2013.06.2105:36:24UTC+00Hong Kong, Shanghai stocks downgrades; banks retreat

Hong Kong and mainland Chinese stocks plunged Friday, extending declines from the previous day's sell off, after worries that the Federal Reserve would taper its bond purchases slammed commodities and U.S. shares. The Hang Seng Index moved 1.9% back to 20,002.61, after briefly dropping under the psychologically-important 20,000-point level for the first time in more than nine months. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index missed 2.3%, while in mainland Chinese trading action, the Shanghai Composite Index relinquished 1.9%. Shares of Chinese banks suffered big hits amid worries about high rates in the Shanghai interbank money markets, despite a Bloomberg report that the People's Bank of China had injected 50 billion yuan ($8.17 billion) after some short-term rates surged to a record on Thursday. Bank of Communications Co. traded 4% lower and Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. diminished 2.2% in Hong Kong. Property and resource-sector stocks also lost heavily. In Shanghai trade, shares of China Minsheng Banking Corp. down 3.3%, while China Construction Bank Corp. dropped 8.7% as the stock traded without rights to a dividend.