January 21, 2001 9:26pm HK stocks open higher as First Pacific soars
Reuters
HONG KONG, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Hong Kong stocks opened higher on Monday with conglomerate First Pacific <0142.HK> soaring 30 percent as Philippine currency and stock markets rallied on the fall of disgraced President Joseph Estrada.
First Pacific, which depends on the Philippines for the bulk of its earnings, helped support the benchmark index while other blue chips were flat following a mixed performance by Wall Street on Friday.
The Hang Seng Index <.HSI> was up 0.25 percent, or 39.77 points, at 15,973.32 at 10.08 a.m. (0208 GMT).
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First Pacific leapt 30.86 percent to HK$2.65, tracking a 34 percent jump in the Philippine stock market in early trade after the peaceful transfer of power on Saturday to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
First Pacific tumbled 16 percent in two days last week as the impeachment trial of Estrada broke down. The Philippine Supreme Court on Saturday stripped Estrada of office after he lost the support of the miltary and most of his cabinet.
First Pacific was one of few blue chips to gain ground on Monday morning as investors were unnerved by a slight fall in the Dow Jones industrials <.DJI> on Friday.
"Investors do not want to get caught out by any surprise moves in the U.S. during the long holiday so they are not willing to trade much today," said Alan Pau, director of sales at SG Securities.
The Hong Kong stock market will close for the Chinese New Year holiday at lunchtime on Tuesday and will reopen on Monday.
However, the telecom sector, which rallied late last week remained firm on growing optimism that technology stocks globally are stabilising.
China Mobile <0941.HK>, the mainland's biggest mobile phone operator, ports-to-telecom conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa <0013.HK> and Internet and telecom play Pacific Century CyberWorks <0008.HK> were also up slightly.
Second-line telecom play SmarTone Telecommunications Holdings <0315.HK> was up 4.01 percent at HK$14.25, extending a 20 percent rally last week on news the company is raising its fees.
The news has also helped Sunday Communications <0866.HK>, a small mobile phone operator, which was up 5.8 percent at HK$0.73, building on a 23 percent surge last week.
China shares were mixed but oil giant PetroChina <0857.HK> was 4.35 percent higher at HK$1.44, a one-month high, on news that the company had discovered what could be China's biggest natural gas field in northern Inner Mongolia.
The stock was also helped by a rise in the oil price in response to OPEC's decision last week to cut production.
Losing ground was Legend Holdings <0992.HK>. The mainland's biggest computer maker was down 2.92 percent at HK$6.65 on profit taking after surging 21 percent last week to close at HK$6.85, its highest level since November 8.
There was still interest in quality second-line tech stocks such as i-Cable Communications <1097.HK>, Hong Kong's dominant cable television operator. The stock was up 8.97 percent at HK$4.25 after rising 6 percent last week on a pick-up in the technology sector.
Market turnover totalled HK$2.599 billion (US$333 million) by 10.45 a.m. with winners outpacing losers by 135 to 119 and 490 issues unchanged.
((US$1 = HK$7.8))
((Susan Fenton, Hong Kong Newsroom +852 2843-6370, Fax +852 2845-0636 hongkong.newsroom@reuters.com))
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