Hong Kong shares lower led by China Mobile/Hutchison Whampoa

HONG KONG (AFX-ASIA) - Share prices were lower in early morning trade led by telecom stocks, in particular China Mobile and Hutchison Whampoa, with Yahoo!'s management reshuffle and earnings warning overnight further clouding the prospects for global high-tech stocks, dealers said. Properties fell as investors were disappointed with the year to March 2002 government budget which did not contain further stimulus measures for the property market, they said. At 10:51 am, the Hang Seng index was down 138.32 points at 14,039.04 on turnover of 2.15 bln hkd. The Hang Seng March contract last traded at13,935 points. The Hang Seng China Enterprises index was down 1.66 points at 402.18, and the CAC index was down 13.41 points at 1,165.20. TraHK fell 0.15 to 14.10 hkd on volume of2.21 mln units. The GEM index was down 2.10 points at 286.28 on turnover of 24.75 mln hkd. The MTR Corp was down 0.05 at 13.95 hkd. Kenneth Tang, assistant sales manager at Vickers Ballas, said selling orders placed by institutional investors such as Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse First Boston and ABN Amro, continued to come in, pressuring the telecom sector. "China Mobile and Hutchison Whampoa are under greater pressure. Investors have been unnerved by Yahoo!'s profit warning. They areafra prospects," Tang said. China Mobile fell 0.60 to 36.50 and HutchisonWhampoa shed 1.75 to 87.75. Tang said for China Mobile, investors are concerned about a possible price war between the company and China Unicom after China Mobile's announcement to cut tariff rates. China Unicom was unchanged at 11.05 and Pacific Century CyberWorks was steady at 4.25. The Hang Seng Index briefly fell below 14,000 points before it bounced back. Tang said if the market fails to hold firm above the 14,000 points level, the index may test 13,800 points soon. more

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