Hong Kong: Hong Kong stocks plunged by 8 percent to below 15,000 points in early trading Friday as fears over a global economic meltdown heightened.

After the first half hour of trading Friday morning, the blue-chip Hang Seng Index was down 7.97 percent, or 1,270.29 points at 14,672.95 points. It was earlier down more than 8 percent.

The sell-off followed a minor rally in stock prices Thursday when the Hang Seng Index rebounded by more than 3 percent following successive interest rate cuts.

Stocks in Hong Kong have been among the hardest hit in the region, losing more than 20 percent of their value since Sep 22 and more than half their value since October 2007.