Hong Kong shares close higher led by China Mobile/property stocks

HONG KONG (AFX-ASIA) - Share prices closed higher, continuing their technical rebound, led by China Mobile and property stocks, dealers said. General market sentiment has improved with the Hang Seng index now seen likely to reach 14,500 points in the short term, they added. The Hang Seng index closed up 185.79 points at 14,321.05, off a high of 14,346.69 and a low of 14,165.66, on turnover of 8.62 bln hkd. The Hang Seng March contract last traded at 14,270 points. The Hang Seng China Enterprises index closed up 8.67 points at 407.01 and the CAC index up 29.08 points at 1,181.49. TraHK closed up 0.15 hkd at 14.40 on volume of 9.51 mln units. The GEM index was up 4.37 points to 292.68 on turnover of 20.89 mln hkd. MTR Corp rose 0.05 to 14.10 hkd. "Four major constituent stocks -- China Mobile, HSBC, Cheung Kong and Hutchison -- were oversold last week. So they bounced back today," Marco Mak, head of research at Tai Fook Securities said. As a result, the Hang Seng Index ended close to its intra-day high, he added. He said the reasons for selling down China Mobile and HSBC had been "quite artificial." "Those reasons like the new tariff scheme for China Mobile or the poor results of HSBC are not strong enough to account for such heavy losses," Mak added. Despite the improved sentiment and prospects for a short-term rise to 14,500 points, Mak said he sees little momentum for a further rise unless uncertainties related to interest rates and U.S. economic conditions have been addressed. On the budget speech, which will be released tomorrow afternoon, Mak said he expects it will contain few surprises, given that a deficit budget is widely expected. China Mobile closed up 0.5 at 38.40 on 31.57 mln shares. China Unicom added 0.60 to 11.05 on 24.09 mln shares. Hutchison Whampoa gained 1.5 to 89.50 and Pacific Century CyberWorks rose 0.05 to 4.275. Cheung Kong was up 3.75 at 92.75, Sun Hung Kai Properties up 3.0 at 85.50, New World Development up 0.6 at 13.60 and Henderson Land up 1.7 at 47.10. Amoy Properties rose 0.35 to 9.15 on a "buy" recommendation from Morgan Stanley Asia. Amoy's holding company Hang Lung Development rose 0.35 to 7.95. Wharf Holdings was up 0.3 at 24.0 after a report that it plans to raise 4.0 bln hkd. HSBC was unchanged at 102.50, Bank of East Asia gained 0.45 to 19.0 and Hang Seng Bank shed 0.75 to 95.0. Cathay Pacific Airways was up 0.45 at 12.10 ahead of its 2000 results due tomorrow. Asia Satellite Telecommunications Holdings was up 0.4 at 16.80 after its 2000 results. Red chips and H shares were further boosted by expectations that China's 10th five-year economic plan announced by Premier Zhu Rongji will help the country continue its market reforms and eventually boost the profitability of Chinese enterprises, dealers said. China Resources Enterprises rose 0.3 to 12.05, China Merchants added 0.05 to 6.20 and COSCO Pacific up 0.1 at 5.30. Beijing Datang gained 0.075 to 2.425 after its 2000 results. Its net profit was 1.37 bln yuan against 1.25 bln a year earlier. On the GEM board, tom.com shares were 0.275 or 13.09 pct higher at 2.375 on speculative interest after the company announced the purchase of a 50 pct stake in a Chinese news weekly, Yazhou Zhoukan, dealers said. Sunevision ended the day up 0.125 at 2.725 and hongkong.com up 0.03 at 0.42.

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