Friday January 11, 2:22 PM
Hang Seng sheds gains but Cathay dives
sg.news.yahoo.com
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong stocks surrendered early gains to end the Friday morning session slightly lower, with the territory's dominant carrier Cathay Pacific diving 5.6 percent on concerns about its short-term outlook.
Property heavyweights weighed heavily on the index, succumbing to profit taking after outperforming the market in recent sessions on hopes that the sector was poised for recovery.
The benchmark Hang Seng Index was down 0.38 percent, or 42.81 points, to 11,213.26 by the midday break, extending a three-day losing streak. In early trade it had climbed as high as 11,351.75.
Analysts expect the index to find immediate support at about 11,100, with resistance near the 11,500 level.
Cathay Pacific <0293> led blue chip losses, falling 60 cents to HK$10.15 after chief executive and deputy chairman David Turnbull said in a New Year's message to staff that "revenue for both cargo and passengers has collapsed".
Last year was one of the toughest on record and 2002 would also be difficult, Turnbull said in an in-house newsletter.
"Cathay has gone up a lot in recent months and I expect it to move between HK$9 and HK$10.50 in the near term," said Kitty Chan, associate director at Lippo Securities. |
