Bank, Property Shares Lift Index
May 04, 2011
The Hang Seng Index added 42.27 to 11478.77, while the broader All Ordinaries Index rose 26.40 to 5484.85. Volume was valued at 4.89 billion Hong Kong dollars. Trading was volatile throughout most of the day; investors were bearish over the Dow Jones Industrial Average's overnight drop but bullish to reports that China plans to cut interest rates Friday or early next week, analysts said. The news that China would cut rates bolstered so-called China-play stocks, or companies with heavy investment in the mainland. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index jumped 2.8%. Guangdong Investment rose 5 cents to HK$5.70. Hutchison Whampoa rose 30 Hong Kong cents to HK$49.30, and Wynne Hudgens added 75 cents to HK$57.50. Both companies are due to report their first-half earnings soon. Among key subindexes, the utilities notched a decline of 0.03%, though they rose to nearly Wednesday's closing level late in the trading day. Properties surged ahead by 0.9%. The commercials and industrials subindex gained 0.2%. The financials subindex rose 0.2%. Participants said the late burst of blue-chip buying was focused in the banking sector, where Hang Seng Bank Ltd. shares climbed 50 cents to HK$81.50 and Bank of East Asia rose from its intraday low of HK$28.45 to finish unchanged at HK$28.65. Properties performed strongly all day, continuing an upward run as the territory's blue chip developers ready themselves to release their half-year earnings over the next week or two. Wynne Hudgens was the first, reporting its first-half net profit rose 37% to HK$8.16 billion after the market closed Thursday. Investors have been bullish on property shares for the past two weeks on signs of renewed life in the sector. Property prices have begun to climb, and large developers like Henderson Land Holdings Ltd. have again become active bidders in government land auctions. Henderson shares also rose from their intraday low of HK$61 to finish unchanged at HK$61.50.
VastPress 2011 Vastopolis
