Hong Kong - Hong Kong shares fell back nearly 3 per cent Friday as jittery investors waited to see if the US economic rescue package would be approved in Washington.

The Hang Seng Index lost 528.71 points, or 2.9 per cent, to close the week at 17,682.4 points, one of its lowest levels for two years. Turnover was a weak 53.2 billion Hong Kong dollars (6.84 billion US dollars.)

Hong Kong - When wealthy residents of one of the world's most ostentatious cities - Hong Kong - start cutting back on luxuries, as reports suggested Friday, you know the global economy is in trouble.

High rollers in the high-rise city of 6.9 million which has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world are eating out less, spending less on holidays and buying fewer luxury cars.

"The coming 12 months will definitely be difficult," Leon Roy, general manager of Rolls Royce Hong Kong told the South China Morning Post.

Hong Kong - China has clamped down on permits to visit Macau after seeing huge amounts of money flood into casinos in the resort, some of them American-owned, a news report said Thursday.

Hong Kong - Hong Kong leader Donald Tsang said Wednesday the territory was facing a "financial tsunami" and said the city would need tenacity and perseverance to ride it out.

Speaking at a Chinese National Day ceremony, he said people in the city of 6.9 million needed to summon up the spirit China displayed after the Sichuan earthquake in May to face the crisis ahead.

"We were uplifted by the great strength and unity displayed by the whole nation in its aftermath," he told a gathering of 2,000 people at the reception.

Hong Kong - The popularity of Hong Kong's leader has plunged to a new low in the wake of the contaminated milk scandal in China, according to a survey Tuesday.

Beijing-appointed chief executive Donald Tsang was given a score of 53.4 out of 100 in the monthly poll of more than 750 people, his lowest score since taking office in 2005.

The ratio of people satisfied with Tsang's administration fell 3.7 percentage points month-on-month to 21.3 per cent, also the lowest level since Tsang took office.

Hong Kong - Hong Kong shares plunged more than 6 per cent in the first minutes of trading Tuesday in response to news of the defeat of the 700-billion-US-dollars rescue plan in Washington.

The Hang Seng Index fell below 17,000 points within 10 minutes of the market opening Tuesday but recovered some lost ground to reach 17,266, a loss of 3.43 per cent or 641 points on Monday's close, by 11 am (0300 GMT).