Hong Kong, Sep 30 (DPA) Hong Kong shares staged a remarkable turnaround to end Tuesday in positive territory after losing more than 6 percent of their value in the first minutes of trading.The blue-chip Hang Seng Index dipped below 17,000 points at the start of trading Tuesday as markets across the region slumped in response to the defeat of the $700 billion rescue plan in
Washington.

The initial plunge in share prices followed an overnight sell-off on Wall Street in response to the rejection of the economic bail-out plan by the US House of Representatives.

But Hong Kong shares rallied from mid-morning onwards and ended the day up 131.53 points or 0.76 percent at 18,016.21 points. Turnover was 71.8 billion Hong Kong dollars ($9.24 billion).

The turnaround came as Hong Kong’s chief executive Donald Tsang spoke out about the city’s ability to withstand the effects of the
global economic downturn.

Reacting to the rejection of the rescue package, Tsang said: “The Hong Kong market will suffer, but we must remember that in dealing with financial crises of this kind, Hong Kong has accumulated considerable experience.”

“Over the last 10 years we overcame the problem of the Asian financial crisis and economic problems led by the SARS epidemic,” Tsang said.

“We overcame them, and we must also remember that the economic fundamentals of Hong Kong are good, and our regulatory system, our fiscal economic system, are sound.”