Sunday November 1, 10:37 pm Eastern Time
HK stocks modestly up in early trade, gains pared
HONG KONG, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Hong Kong stocks were modestly higher on Monday morning following firmer overseas stocks, but profit-taking pared initial gains, brokers said.
The Hang Seng Index added 70 points, or 0.70 percent, to 10,225 after hitting an early high of 10,286.08 points.
Turnover was a moderate HK$1.09 billion.
''There is some profit-taking after the market opened higher but selling is relatively light,'' said Jason Tang, institutional sales trader at South China Securities.
He said the market was in consolidation mode after rising 29 percent in October, but the upward momentum remained intact.
The Dow industrials rose 97.07 points, or 1.14 percent, to close at 8,592.10 on Friday, boosted by proposals by the Group of Seven nations to tackle the global turmoil and stronger-than-expected 3.3 percent estimated growth in U.S. third quarter gross domestic product.
Tang said the G7 steps to address the global crisis, including an agreement to provide an additional US$90 billion to bail out crisis-hit nations, helped market sentiment.
''There is light buying interest for individual blue chip laggards, otherwise the index heavyweight stocks are mostly taking a breather,'' he said.
Swire Pacific fell HK$1.20 to HK$39.90 and HSBC Holdings was down HK$0.50 at HK$177.00.
But Wharf Holdings rose HK$0.35 to HK$12.65 on bargain hunting.
''Turnover is quite low today and therefore I do suspect that we can see the market consolidate from here,'' said Lino Delgado, associate director at Amsteel Securities.
He said the market was likely to fall to 10,000 points given the sharp rise in the past few weeks.
The Hang Seng Index had erased gains by mid-morning and was down 60 points, or 0.59 percent, at 10,095 points at 0322 GMT.
First Pacific added HK$0.225, or 6.12 percent, to HK$3.90 after the company said on Monday it would seek representation on the board of Philippines Long Distance Telephone Co if it succeeded in enlarging its investment in the company.
Red chips and H-shares bucked the trend and were mostly firmer with investors switching from blue chips to selected laggards, brokers said.
The red chip Hang Seng China-Affiliated Corporations Index rose 34 points, or 3.71 percent, to 959 points and the H-share index added 15 points, or 3.68 percent, to 436 points.
Shanghai Industrials rose HK$0.50 to HK$18.40 and China Telecom added HK$0.05 to HK$14.60.
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