Found this on another thread--it's from Friday morning:
Friday October 30, 12:39 am Eastern Time
(Note: this article is ''in progress''; there will likely be an update soon.)
HK stocks end morning higher on overseas buying
HONG KONG, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Hong Kong stocks surged to a higher midsession close on Friday as foreign funds snapped up blue chips and helped push the Hang Seng Index above 10,000 points for the first time since May 12, brokers said.
The blue chip index jumped 284.24 points, or 2.86 percent, to finish the morning at 10,215.70, a touch below the session high of 10,254.35 points.
''This is a classic bear market rally. It is one of the strongest in terms of a bear market rally we have had in recent years,'' said Robert Sassoon, head of research at SG Securities.
Turnover rose to HK$5.20 billion versus Thursday midday's HK$5.00 billion.
The market opened higher followed an overnight gain on Wall Street, and a limited free float in the market accelerated the rise by the main index, brokers said.
The government bought HK$118 billion worth of blue chips during its intervention in August and it was expected to hold the portfolio for a while, they said.
''Hopes that the United States will cut interest rates further in November also helped sentiment,'' said Peter Lai, a director at OCBC Securities.
An easier credit policy in the United States would provide room for Hong Kong to lower its interest rates further after a 25 basis point cut this month, he said.
Swire Pacific led the blue chip gainers, rising HK$3.90, or 10.32 percent, to HK$41.70 due to limited supply of shares in the market, brokers said.
The government has a 12.28 percent stake in Swire.
''And the stock is lagging behind the market, trading at 9.0 times 1998 earnings compared to an average of about 15 times on the Hang Seng Index,'' Lai said.
Other blue chips were mostly higher with HSBC Holdings gaining HK$4.00 to HK$179.50 and Sun Hung Kai Properties up HK$3.00 at HK$53.75.
November index futures jumped 325 points to 10,255 and the December contract added 290 points to 10,220.
Brokers said the market, which had risen 29.6 percent so far this month, looked overbought.
''We think that we'll be selling into strength,'' Sassoon said. The fundamentals remained poor and did not support this month's rally, SG said in its weekly report.
(Note: this article is ''in progress''; there will likely be an update soon.)
|
