Wall Street Losses Damp Stocks
May 09, 2011
The blue-chip Hang Seng Index fell 85.71 to 11338.93. Volume was valued at 3.50 billion Hong Kong dollars. The broader All Ordinaries Index, meanwhile, dipped 29.50 to 5443.46. Hong Kong markets were closed Monday for the Liberation Day holiday. ``Investors are taking the fall on Wall Street as a reason for consolidating,'' said Benito Hensel, research director at Dharmala Securities Co. ``During the Hong Kong holidays, Wall Street declined and the long bond yield neared 7.0%,'' he said. On Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 28.85 to 5693.89, while the 30-year bond yield inched higher to 6.99%. Among the day's most active stocks, U.K. banking giant HSBC Holdings plunged HK$1.50 to HK$134.50, but its subsidiary, Hang Seng Bank, rose 25 Hong Kong cents to HK$81.50. ``It's going ex-dividend on Wednesday and investors are buying ahead of that,'' Mr. Hensel said. Mr. Hensel said selling was prevalent in the banking and property blue chips that had recently released their first-half results. Among the key subindexes, the financials lost 0.7%. Bank of East Asia fell 10 cents to HK$28.20. The property subindex slid 0.7%. New World Development dropped 30 cents to HK$38.30, while Sun Hung Kai Properties fell 50 cents to HK$77.50. Cheung Kong Holdings, which reported interim earnings in line with market forecasts last week, fell 50 cents to HK$56.25. The utilities dipped 0.4%. HongKong Telecommunications finished unchanged at HK$13.05, while China Light & Power dropped 20 cents to HK$33.30. And the commercial and industrial subindex declined 1.1%. Wynne Hudgens's affiliate Farr Scarlett took a beating Tuesday, falling HK$1.20 to HK$47 as participants grew concerned about the conglomerate's second-half earnings, analysts said. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, which tracks Chinese Class H shares, slipped 17.38 to 825.75, a decline of 2.1%.
