Hong Kong - Hong Kong stocks plunged by 8 per cent to below 15,000 points in early trading Friday as fears over a global economic meltdown heightened.

After the first half hour of trading Friday morning, the blue-chip Hang Seng Index was down 7.97 per cent, or 1,270.29 points at 14,672.95 points. It was earlier down more than 8 per cent.

The sell-off followed a minor rally in stock prices Thursday when the Hang Seng Index rebounded by more than 3 per cent following successive interest rate cuts.

Hong Kong  - Two bell captains and three other staff from a luxury Hong Kong hotel were Thursday jailed for taking bribes from a well-known tailor for referring wealthy guests to his shop.

Wong Hing-cheung, 60, Yeung Wing-wai, 32, both former guest relations agents of The Marco Polo Gateway Hotel, and former bell captains Cheng Chi-chiu, 59, and Leung Siu-ho, 45, all admitted accepting bribes.

They were jailed for two months each at the hearing in Hong Kong's Kowloon City Court and ordered to pay compensation of 1,000 Hong Kong dollars each (128 US dollars) to the hotel.

Hong Kong - Hong Kong shares rebounded by 2.65 per cent Thursday morning as officials tracked the US Federal Reserve by cutting interest rates by a further 0.5 per cent.

The interest rate cut, which brings base rates down to 2 per cent, follows a 1 percentage point cut by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority Wednesday.

Announcing the cut, the authority's chief executive Joseph Yam said the impact of the reduction might take some time to filter through to the markets.

Hong Kong - Hong Kong's flagship airline Cathay Pacific said Wednesday it had seen "significant drops" in first and business class bookings as the global economic crisis deepens.

Companies are shifting their executives from first class to business and from business to economy as the financial crisis deepens, airline staff were told in a newsletter.

Cathay has been hit particularly hard because 16 of its top 20 corporate clients are in the financial sector, the newsletter claimed.

Hong Kong  - Hong Kong shares slumped by more than 8 per cent Wednesday as economic woes deepened despite a cut in interest rates intended to boost liquidity in the city's money markets.

The Hang Seng Index lost 1,372.03 points or 8.17 per cent, crashing through the 16,000 points barrier within minutes of the market opening and ending the day at 15,431.73 points. Turnover was
77.7 billion Hong Kong dollars (10 billion US dollars).

The blue-chip index has fallen at an unprecedented rate in recent weeks and has now shed 50 per cent of its value since it peaked at just below 32,000 points in October 2007.

Hong