Hong Kong  - Panicked customers queued up Wednesday to withdraw their savings from branches of the Bank of East Asia in Hong Kong as rumours circulated that the bank was facing financial problems.

The rumours were categorically denied by the bank's management, which nevertheless had to extend business hours by 30 minutes to cope with the queues of anxious customers.

The Bank of East Asia, owned by one of Hong Kong's wealthiest families, blamed "malicious rumours" that it said had been circulating in the market since Monday and questioned the bank's financial stability.

Hong Kong - At least 58 people were injured when Typhoon Hagupit roared past Hong Kong Wednesday, grounding flights and closing schools.

Trees were felled and roads were flooded as torrential rains and gale-force winds lashed the former British colony, shutting the airport for 12 hours starting at 9 pm (1300 GMT) Tuesday.

By 6 am Wednesday, a government spokesman said 58 people, aged 6 to 89, had been treated at accident and emergency hospital units across the territory from injuries received in the storm.

Hong Kong - Flights were grounded and schools closed as Typhoon Hagupit side-swiped Hong Kong Wednesday, but the high-rise city of 6.9 million people was spared a direct hit.

Hundreds of trees were felled and roads were flooded as torrential rain and gale-force winds lashed the former British colony, grounding all flights after 9 pm Tuesday.

The ferocious typhoon, one of the strongest to hit the region this year, passed within 180 km of Hong Kong and was expected to make landfall Wednesday morning in neighbouring southern China.

Hong Kong - Hong Kong braced for Typhoon Hagupit Tuesday, cancelling dozens of flights and ferry services, after the storm killed five people and left four missing in the Philippines.

Two of the people killed in the Philippines drowned in a swollen river in the central province of Antique, two were buried in landslides in the northern city of Baguio and one was electrocuted in the northern province of La Union, relief officials said.

Rescuers were also struggling to extricate 13 miners trapped in a flooded shaft of a goldmine in Itogon town in Benguet province, 225 kilometres north of Manila.

Hong Kong  - Dozens of flights were cancelled Tuesday as Typhoon Hagupit, which killed at least five people in the Philippines, bore down on Hong Kong.

Schools and kindergartens were closed Tuesday afternoon, and ferry services to outlying islands were suspended as the fast-moving storm closed in on the high-rise city of 6.9 million.

Weathermen forecast the typhoon would brush past Hong Kong Tuesday evening before making landfall in southern China. A high storm signal was expected to be hoisted by 6 pm (1000 GMT) Tuesday.

The Hong Kong Airport Authority said 47 flights had been cancelled Tuesday afternoon as high winds and squally rain lashed the former British colony.

Hong Kong - Hong Kong stocks ended a two-day rally Tuesday and fell back 3.87 per cent amid faltering confidence in the US plan to rescue large Wall Street debtors.

The blue-chip Hang Seng Index lost 759.35 points to end the day at 18,872.85 points. Turnover was 64.3 billion US dollars (8.27 billion US dollars).

The decline followed two days of strong gains that took the Hong Kong index to within touching distance of the 20,000-point mark by Monday.