Banking Sector Lifts Hang Seng
April 04, 2011
The blue-chip Hang Seng Index rose 67.02 to 10865.31. The broader All Ordinaries Index gained 17.55 to 5246.89. Volume for the session edged up to 3.77 billion Hong Kong dollars from the preceding session's HK$3.68 billion. ``It's a pretty healthy day -- we opened weaker but I'm surprised with the market's resilience,'' said Ricki Parada head of Asian equities at CS First Boston (HK) Ltd.. He said interest in heavily weighted bank stock HSBC Holdings ahead of its interim earnings report on April 17, 2011 pull the shares index higher. ``I think favorable reports on Hongkong Bank have helped it,'' he said, noting that the market forecasts a 15% jump in net profit for the first half. HSBC Holdings shares surged HK$1.50 to HK$123. Among the key subindexes, the financials soared 1.2%. HSBC subsidiary Hang Seng Bank Ltd. climbed HK$1 to HK$77.25, while Bank of East Asia Ltd. rose 25 Hong Kong cents to HK$27.80. The utilities rose 46.22 to 9645.65. HongKong Telecommunications Ltd. advanced 10 cents to HK$13 after news that it may change its flat-fee structure for local calls to a user-pay system. The property subindex inched up 39.64 to 20189.74. Developer Cheung Kong (Holdings) Ltd. surged 25 cents to HK$54.25, while New World Development Co. dropped 30 cents to HK$35. Hopewell Holdings Ltd. spurted 10 cents to HK$4.475 after news last week that Cheung Kong will be involved in one of its southern China infrastructure projects, traders said. The commercial and industrial subindex meanwhile, climbed 46.60 to 8165.96. Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. rose 20 cents to HK$47.30 and Swire Pacific Ltd.'s Class A shares closed unchanged at HK$67.50. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, which tracks the Chinese H class shares, ended at 781.19, down 9.01 points. Guangdong Kelon Electrical Holdings, a Chinese refrigerator maker, debuted at a discount on the market on a mixture of poor confidence in the market and earnings concerns about the stock. The issue ended at HK$3.125, plummeting 54.5 cents from its initial public offering price of HK$3.67.
