Hong Kong shares lower on continued falls in Japan, China market worries UPDATE

Hong Kong shares lower on continued falls in Japan, China market worries UPDATE

	Published : Thu, 01 Mar 2007 04:19 By : Agencies Print this Story

HONG KONG (XFN-ASIA) - Share prices were lower in morning trade following continued falls on the Japanese market and renewed weakness on the Shanghai bourse in early trade, dealers said.

The said Wall Street's bounce overnight was not convincing enough, prompting investors to stay cautious after the recent global sell-off.

At 10.42 am, the Hang Seng Index was down 132.73 points or 0.68 pct at 19,518.78, off a low of 19,462.40 and high of 19,643.41.

Turnover was 12.78 bln hkd.

'Many investors remain cautious because of continued falls in the Japanese and Chinese markets,'

said Alex Wong, fund manager at Shenyin Wanguo Securities.

'The rebound on Wall Street was not strong enough to boost investor sentiment and encourage buying in the local market,' he said.

'More than Wall Street, many investors are waiting to see more stability in the China markets before their frayed nerves are sufficiently calmed down,' he said.

The Shanghai market rebounded yesterday after Tuesday's massive sell-off but saw renewed falls in early trade today.

Wong said the local market is also being weighed down by pressure on HSBC ahead of its annual results announcement on Monday.

HSBC was down 0.20 hkd or 0.15 pct at 136.40.

Other banks traded mixed, with Hang Seng Bank up 0.40 hkd or 0.38 pct at 106.80, Bank of East Asia down 0.80 hkd or 1.79 pct at 43.90 and BOC Hong Kong down 0.22 hkd or 1.16 pct at 18.68.

China financials were lower, with China Construction Bank down 0.09 hkd or 2.05 pct at 4.31, ICBC down 0.07 hkd or 1.62 pct at 4.24, Bank of China down 0.03 hkd or 0.53 pct at 3.72 and China Life down 0.40 hkd or 1.67 pct at 20.55.

Wong said the budget speech yesterday of Financial Secretary Henry Tang is not having much impact on the market today.

'There wasn't much in the budget for the corporate sector, except for some real estate-related tax concessions which would benefit only a few stocks,' he said.

Midland Realty was up 0.17 hkd or 3.59 pct at 4.91.

Properties were mostly lower, with the sectoral sub-index losing 223.45 points or 0.95 pct at 23,353.19.

Cheung Kong was down 0.65 hkd or 0.68 pct at 95.10, Henderson Land down 0.25 hkd or 0.56 pct at 44.05, Sino Land down 0.48 hkd or 2.67 pct at 17.48 and Wharf Holdings down 0.10 hkd or 0.36 pct at 27.60.

Among companies which announced results yesterday, CLP Holdings was down 0.45 hkd or 0.79 pct at 56.80 after reporting that its net profit for 2006 fell 13 pct to 9.91 bln hkd due to slow growth in its core Hong Kong business and the absence of a one-off gain.

Wing Lung Bank was up 2.30 hkd or 2.81 pct at 84.05 after announcing that its net profit rose 45 pct last year to 1.61 bln hkd on strong net interest income and gains from revaluation of investment properties.

Among companies due to report their first half earnings today, Hopewell Holdings was up 0.15 hkd or 0.50 pct at 30.20 while Smartone Telecommunications was down 0.09 hkd or 1.14 pct at 7.81.

H-shares were mostly lower, with the Hang Seng China Enterprises index losing 106.34 points or 1.15 pct at 9,177.29.

China Mobile was down 0.60 hkd or 0.63 pct at 95.15, PetroChina down 0.09 hkd or 0.99 pct at 9.02, Chalco down 0.13 hkd or 1.74 pct at 7.35 and China Cosco down 0.19 hkd or 2.76 pct at 6.69.

(1 usd = 7.78 hkd)

jun.concepcion@xfn.com

jc/rc