Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Pastimes : The Justa & Lars Honors Bob Brinker Investment Club -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: rsie who wrote (13588)	5/1/2000 1:03:00 PM
From: rsie	Respond to of 15132

"``Volatility in the market is likely to continue unless either side confirms or denies rumors of a build-up in military activities,'' Tang said. " HK stocks end lower as China manoeuvres kill rally HONG KONG, April 26 (Reuters) - Hong Kong stocks ended lower on Wednesday as news of intensified Chinese military activities opposite Taiwan killed off an early rally sparked by a robust performance on Wall Street. The Hang Seng Index (^HSI - news) closed 152.62 points or 0.99 percent lower at 15,227.39, after hitting a morning high of 15,629.52 and an afternoon low of 15,140.35. ``Reports suggesting tension between Taipei and Beijing may escalate in the next week triggered selling,'' said Alex Tang, research director at Core Pacific-Yamaichi Securities. ``Investors are definitely worried.'' In the broader market, decliners outpaced advancers 391 issues to 254. Turnover remained low at HK$8.026 billion, but up from HK$7.0 billion on Tuesday. ``The expiration of the April futures contract tomorrow also made the market quite volatile,'' said Dennis Leung, research manager at J & A Securities. The April Hang Seng Index futures contract <0#HSI:> ended the day 280 points lower at 15,180, while May contracts shed 280 points to 15,160. Property counters were the target of some selling following a disappointing land auction on Tuesday. Henderson Land Development lost 4.42 per cent to end at HK$34.6 while Cheung Kong (Holdings) Ltd shed 1.16 percent to HK$85.50. Bucking the market trend was Cable & Wireless HKT , which rose 4.39 percent to HK$17.85 on a Wall Street Journal report that Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. and News Corp (Australia:NCP.AX - news) were considering a new bid for the company to counter Pacific Century CyberWorks' offer. PCCW shares ended 3.36 percent down at HK$12.95. A spokeswoman for HKT declined to comment on the report. PCCW group managing director Alex Arena said in Australia that he was confident that Britain's Cable & Wireless Plc (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: CW.L), C&W HKT's parent, would proceed with the PCCW deal. Shares of China Telecom (Hong Kong) Ltd fell 3.54 percent to HK$54.50, dragging down the Hang Seng Index by 124.23 points, according to Reuters Securities 3000. The heavyweight Chinese cellular operator also proved a drag on Hong Kong's new information technology share indices, which debuted on Wednesday. The Hang Seng IT Index (^HSIT - news) fell 1.72 percent or 46.65 points to 2,671.35 from its closing level on Tuesday. China Telecom made up about 61.73 percent of the index weighting on Wednesday, according to the HSI Services website (www.hsiservices.com). The Hang Seng IT Portfolio Index (^HSITP - news), which uses the same 18 stocks but limits any one stock's weighting to 20 percent of the index, gained 0.09 percent or 3.08 points to 3,321.72. Both indices use a base level of 1,000 backdated to April 1 1999. The indices had a more favourable impact on shares named on Tuesday as constituents, including New World CyberBase Ltd , which surged 11.86 percent to HK$0.66 and Champion Technology Ltd. which jumped 14.06 percent to HK$0.365. The Taiwan reports of increased training for Chinese bomber and jet fighter crews and increased naval activity in the East China Sea knocked Taiwan's TAIEX index (^TWII - news) down 4.32 percent to 8,535.96 but had a mixed effect on Hong Kong-listed Chinese shares. The red-chip Hang Seng China Corporations Index (^HSCC - news) gained 0.16 percent to 1,183.50, while the H-share index (^HSCE - news) lost 1.07 percent to 369.29 points. ``Volatility in the market is likely to continue unless either side confirms or denies rumors of a build-up in military activities,'' Tang said.