All across Hong Kong – from The Peak to South Island and elsewhere – high-net-worth individuals have found themselves caught in a tight spot between their ritzy, overleveraged properties and a quickly draining pool of liquidity.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) on Thursday cut its base rate charged via the overnight discount window by 50 basis points to 5.25%, tracking a move by the U.S. Federal Reserve. Hong Kong's monetary policy moves in lock-step with the United States as the city's currency is pegged to the greenback in a tight range of 7.

Wall Street stocks hit record highs as the Federal Reserve cut interest rates to support the labor market. Dow rose 1.3%, S&P 500 1.7% and Nasdaq 2.5%.