Sunday February 13, 11:53 pm Eastern Time (Note: this article is ''in progress''; there will likely be an update soon.)
HK stocks fall after hitting record, C&W HKT up
HONG KONG, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Hong Kong stocks fell on Monday morning after hitting a record high, with investor interest in a second bid for Cable & Wireless HKT unable to offset tumbling bank, property and utility shares amid interest rate concerns.
The benchmark Hang Seng Index (^HSI - news) fell 0.55 percent or 95.68 points to 17,284.62 after reaching an intraday record 17,939.27, with a soaring C&W HKT not able to make up for steep losses in China Telecom (Hong Kong) Ltd , Hutchison Whampoa Ltd and HSBC Holdings Plc .
''The fact the market came down, despite HongKong Telecom (C&W HKT), is to be expected given the interest rate hike on Friday and U.S. markets well weaker,'' said Scott Blanchard, director of Asian sales trading at ABN AMRO Asia.
A total of 267 issues rose and 440 declined on turnover of HK$17.2 billion, lower than Friday morning's HK$20.2 billion.
U.S. stocks suffered broad losses on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which closed at 10,425.21, in a ''correction zone,'' according to Wall Street analysts.
C&W HKT, the most actively traded stock, surged 24.94 percent or HK$5.40 to HK$27.05, after hitting HK27.65 as Pacific Century CyberWorks (PCCW) moved to raise funds for its pending merger bid.
(Note: this article is ''in progress''; there will likely be an update soon.) |