HONG KONG - A HONG KONG restaurateur jumped to his death after telling his business partner that he had suffered huge losses on the city's plummeting stock market, a report said on Wednesday.

Mr Leung Man-kong, aged 62, owned part of a firm that runs a string of restaurants. He leapt from the eighth floor of a housing block near his upscale apartment building on Tuesday morning, the South China Morning Post reported.

He was declared dead at the scene, the Post said.

His family had told police that he was under severe stress at work, while a business partner said the father of-two had suffered heavy losses on the city's stock market, the report said.

Hong Kong's stock market has dropped more than 60 per cent since its peak last October, on the back of a severe global economic slowdown. -- AFP