Cathay Pacific out of HK benchmark index HONG KONG: Hong Kong`s struggling flagcarrier Cathay Pacific was removed on Friday from the prestigious list of companies that make up the city`s benchmark index.

The removal from the Asian financial hub`s Hang Seng Index will take place from December 4, the Hang Seng Indexes Company said in a statement late on Friday. The company has been on the index since 1986. `It a very negative news, especially not many people were expecting it will be taken off at this point,` financial analyst Jackson Wong told AFP.

`I think because other newcomers are performing so strongly, then they had to do that,` Wong of Huarong International Securities said. Cathay Pacific in March posted its first annual loss since the height of the financial crisis following `intense competition` and a drop in demand from business travellers.-AFPBitcoin slides by over $1,000 in under 48 hours LONDON: Bitcoin dropped below $7,000 onFriday to trade more than 5 per cent down on the day, having fallen by well over $1,000 since hitting an all-time high on Wednesday.

Bitcoin dropped to $6,800 on the Luxembourgbased Bitstamp exchange by 1200 GMT, before recovering a little to $6,870 just over 20 minutes later.

On Wednesday around 1800 GMT, it had touched $7,888 after a software upgrade planned for next week that could have split the cryptocurrency in two was suspended.

As bitcoin feII, Bitcoin Cash a clone of the original that was generated from another split on Aug1surged, trading up as much as 35pc on the day at around $850, according to industry website Coin marketcap. -Reuters