Hong Kong stocks took a tumble late in Thursday trading after news that French bank Societe Generale will have to raise €5.5bn to shore up its capital after a trading fraud and subprime-related losses. Asian markets that ended trading prior to that disclosure mostly closed up, following Wall Street’s late rebound overnight.

The Hang Seng dropped 2.3 per cent to 23,539.27, giving up earlier gains. The main index of Chinese companies listed in Hong Kong sagged 2.6 per cent. Mumbai was trading 1.3 per cent lower at mid-afternoon.