Hong Kong shares close sharply lower; market in correction mode UPDATE |
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Wed, 10 Jan 2007 10:36
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HONG KONG (XFN-ASIA) - Share prices closed sharply lower, extending a correction for the third straight session as investors continued to take profits in China stocks and property counters, dealers said.A steep fall on the Japanese market and a lacklustre showing on Wall Street overnight weighed on sentiment, they said.The Hang Seng Index closed down 329.74 points or 1.66 pct at 19,568.34, off a low of 19,507.97 and high of 19,693.70. The index has dropped over 640 points so far this week.Turnover was 64 bln hkd.Ben Kwong, research head at KGI Asia, said property stocks and China plays bore the brunt of profit-taking pressure given their recent run-up.'Investors are selling China financials because they had been overbought (earlier). Investors believe prices have peaked,' he said.Kwong said the market's decline also reflected movements in regional bourses.'The market was affected by Tokyo's sharp losses today. There are some worries that investors may be pulling out of the region, although there are no clear indications of this happening,' he said.Among China financials, China Life lost 1.75 hkd or 6.84 pct at 23.85, ICBC was down 0.05 hkd or 1.07 pct at 4.63, Ping An was down 1.70 hkd or 4.28 pct at 38.0 and China Construction Bank down 0.04 hkd or 0.85 pct at 4.68.Among other H shares, CNOOC was down 0.11 hkd or 1.60 pct at 6.75 and Chalco was down 0.04 hkd or 0.58 pct at 6.85.Blue chip China Mobile was down 1.0 hkd or 1.50 pct at 65.45.The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index finished down 318.25 or 3.19 pct at 9,649.23.Dealers said that investors are also discounting the possibility that interest rates may not be cut this year, which undermined property counters.The property sector index closed down 667.52 points or 2.73 pct at 23,782.44, with Cheung Kong losing 3.70 hkd or 3.64 pct to 98.0 and Henderson Land down 1.55 hkd or 3.24 pct at 46.35.Among local banks, HSBC was down 1.40 hkd or 0.99 pct at 140.10 and Bank of East Asia down 0.60 hkd or 1.37 pct at 43.35.Standard Chartered bucked the trend, gaining 0.80 hkd or 0.36 pct to 223.0 after announcing that its private equity unit completed a planned investment of 35 mln usd in Chinese real estate firm Sino Ocean Real Estate Development.The amount invested in Sino Ocean took Standard Chartered Prviate Equity's total investment in China's real estate development sector in 2006 to a total of 135 mln usd.(1 usd = 7.8 hkd)leonora.walet@xfn.comlw/rc
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Hong Kong shares close sharply lower; market in correction mode 