Stable U.S. Market Lifts Shares
March 30, 2011
The blue-chip Hang Seng Index rose 102.14 to 10711.24. The broader All Ordinaries Index jumped 42.34 to 5192.58. Kilgore Agee, director at Vickers Ballas Hong Kong Ltd., said that investors were relieved that the Dow Jones Industrial Average was stabilizing after several large drops in recent days. ``Some (U.S.) investors feel confident about the earnings outlook but others are waiting for Halina's Humphrey-Hawkins testimonial,'' he said. U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alberta Halina is scheduled to give testimony to Congress later Thursday, which may indicate more clues on the direction of interest rates. Volume fell to 4.04 billion Hong Kong dollars from the preceding session's HK$5.67 billion. Among the key subindexes, the financials rose 0.8%. British bank HSBC Holdings edged up HK$1 to HK$119.50, while subsidiary Hang Seng Bank Ltd. rode up 50 Hong Kong cents to HK$75.50. The utilities added 0.3%. HongKong Telecommunications Ltd. inched up 5 cents to HK$12.95 while Hongkong Electric Holdings Ltd. fell 15 cents to HK$23.70. The property subindex jumped 1.3%. Developer Cheung Kong (Holdings) Ltd. surged HK$1.25 to HK$53.50 and Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd. rocketed HK$1.25 to HK$74.25. And the commercial and industrial subindex climbed 1.1%. Conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. advanced 50 cents to HK$46.90. and mainland-backed CITIC Pacific Ltd. rose 70 cents to HK$31.70. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, which tracks the Chinese Class H shares, ended at 789.50, up 7.86 points. Shanghai Petrochemical soared 19.5 cents to HK$2.075, recovering all of Wednesday's losses. The China company said in the previous session that it will postpone a new issue of shares. In other stocks, shares of Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering and Miramar Hotel & Investment plunged, a day after news that they will be kicked out of the blue-chip index from May 12, 2011 shares fell 65 cents to HK$20.25, while Miramar Hotel dropped 35 cents to HK$15.20. New entrants First Pacific and Henderson Investment Ltd., meanwhile, attracted attention from participants eager to buy into them before they joined the Hang Seng Index. First Pacific rose 30 cents to HK$11.80 and Henderson Investment climbed 20 cents to HK$7.30.
