HK stock index slides 2.5 pct after recent gains

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong stocks fell Friday as investors took some money off the table after three days of spectacular gains.
The blue-chip Hang Seng Index shed 361.18 points, or 2.5 percent, to 13,968.67.
The benchmark has lost more than 48 percent this year.
After soaring 12.8 percent Thursday, investors were bound to cash in their profits given the extreme volatility in recent months.
"The markets are too risky to hold for a long period of time," said Castor Pang, an analyst at Sun Hung Kai Financial. "They want to make money quickly instead of long-term investing."
A less-than-expected rate cut from Japan's central bank Friday also weighed on the market, Pang said.
Financials were mostly lower, with HSBC Holdings off 3.6 percent to $92 Hong Kong dollars and top Chinese lender Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd, or ICBC, down 3 percent to HK$3.54. Insurance giant China Life lost 4.5 percent to HK$20.35.
Troubled conglomerate Citic Pacific Ltd. halted trading in its shares pending an announcement. Earlier this month, the company revealed more than $2 billion in losses from bad bets on foreign currencies.