HONG KONG - Hong Kong share prices were down 7.2 percent in afternoon trade on Wednesday before suddenly rallying, as worries about the global financial sector sparked huge volatility, dealers said.
At one point in afternoon trade, the benchmark Hang Seng index had fallen 7.2 percent before rallying more than 500 points in just a few minutes.
At 3:07 pm (0707 GMT), the index was down 627.70 points on the day at 16,176.06, a fall of 3.9 percent since Monday. Turnover remained light as investors shied away from the huge swings.
Tuesday was a public holiday in the Chinese territory.
Markets across Asia dropped violently on Wednesday, as the global banking industry was plunged into turmoil on worries that credit was drying up and doubts about a string of government rescue plans.