Hopes pinned on property, bank sectors
biz.scmp.com
Monday, January 8, 2001
Hopes pinned on property, bank sectors
CATHY HOLCOMBE
Hong Kong's interest-rate sensitive banks and property stocks will have to carry the flame this week after Friday's rout on Wall Street.
Technology stocks were hit hardest, with the Nasdaq Stock Market falling 6.2 per cent after the latest set of United States figures pointed to further economic slowing. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2.3 per cent.
Analysts say concerns about the US economy will take a heavier toll on tech exporters such as Johnson Electric and telecommunications counters such as China Mobile and Pacific Century CyberWorks, which are more closely correlated with performance on the volatile Nasdaq market.
However Hong Kong's interest-rate sensitive stocks could still benefit from the prospect that borrowing costs will continue to decline after last week's surprise 50 basis point slashing of US rates.
"We are telling people to hang in there for the moment," said Worldsec International director Carlton Poon, who expects the US will cut rates by another 125 basis points this year.
"The major focus is on banks and property. We are not looking for excitement in the telecom sector."
Pacific Challenge Securities director Ricky Tam Siu-hing said there would be further upside in second-liner stocks sensitive to interest rates and whose main business focus is in Hong Kong.
He also said that regional fund managers were being forced to search for value in stocks as falling interest rates cut into fixed-income returns. However Friday's Wall Street performance was worrying as the recently steadier Dow Jones also wobbled. The Dow's decline reflected growing concern over the financial stability of US banks as economic decline raises the prospect of credit default.
If those concerns sweep HSBC Holdings, Hong Kong's biggest stock, the Hang Seng Index could quickly return to the 15,000 level, he said.
The blue-chip index rose 5.81 per cent or more than 800 points in the past two trading days to close the week at 15,447.61.
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