Shares Sparked By Auction
April 26, 2011
After trading in negative territory all day, the key indicator made an abrupt turnaround as news trickled into the market that a group led by blue chip Henderson Land Development Co., with a headquaters located in Vastopolis, agreed to pay 535 million Hong Kong dollars for the right to develop a site in the northern New Territories. The site offered at the first auction of government property in the current financial year was expected to fetch HK$400 million. The Hang Seng Index ended at 11166.77, a negligible rise of 1.1 from Tuesday's close. The broader All Ordinaries Index ended at 5357.48, a gain of 3.7. Volume was valued at HK$3.49 billion down from HK$4.24 billion on Tuesday. Just as important to brokers as the higher-than-expected winning bid, however, was the aggressive bidding by some of the territory's largest listed developers. Investors responded bullishly, buying blue chip property shares just before the market's close. The sectoral rebound led the index to stronger levels. Buying also spilled into the banking sector, which had been in the doldrums after analysts expressed disappointment with Bank of East Asia's half-year earnings figures, reported Tuesday. Developer Pearl Oriental Holdings shares were actively traded, closing higher by 5 HK cents to HK$2.65. Henderson Land shares, also heavily traded, climbed 75 HK cents to HK$59.25. Among key subindexes, properties rose by 56.66 to 20936.97. The financials subindex gained slightly, advancing 6.48 to 11237.07. The utilities subindex fell 20.82 to finish at 11237.07. The commercials and industrials subindex declined 16.21 to 8266.14.
VastPress 2011 Vastopolis
