Hong Kong shares lower on profit taking/U.S. economy, Japan bad loans

HONG KONG (AFX-ASIA) - Share prices were lower in morning trade on profit taking after yesterday's rebound, with investors cautious about an economic slowdown in the U.S. and the bad loans of Japanese banks, dealers said.	    They said falls on the Tokyo market this morning also discouraged local investors from overcoming technical resistance around the 13,100 points level.  	    At 10:50 am, the Hang Seng index was down 30.43 points at 12,920.06, off an early high of 13,056.32, on turnover of 2.15 bln hkd. 	    The Hang Seng March contract last traded at 12,961 points.	    The Hang Seng China Enterprises index was down 0.61 points at 395.51 and  the CAC index was down 4.23 points at 1,052.20.	    TraHK was down 0.10 at 13.10 hkd on volume of 1.44 mln units.	    The GEM index was unchanged at 261.47 points on turnover of 16.50 mln hkd.	    MTR Corp was unchanged at 12.80 hkd..	    The market opened higher to trade above the 13,000 point level before it fell back on profit taking.	    Vincent Tsoi, dealing director with Polaris Securities, said despite a rebound yesterday, market sentiment remained weak.	    "Old concerns are still there. We still worry about the U.S. economy and the bad loan problems in Japan. Yesterday's rebound had nothing to do with changes in fundamentals," Tsoi said.	    Tsoi said the falls among Tokyo shares also played a role in the current profit taking.	    "We have seen technical resistance around 13,100 points," Tsoi said.	    Dealers said the property sector reversed yesterday's significant gains.	    Cheung Kong fell 0.50 hkd to 81.25, Sun Hung Kai Properties lost 0.50 to 74.75, Henderson Land shed 0.10 to 39.40 and New World Development fell 0.10 to 10.30.	    However, Wharf rose 0.80 to 21.05 after its 2000 results.  	    HSBC rose 0.50 to 91.75 and Hang Seng Bank gained 0.25 to 91.00.	    Bank of East Asia was unchanged at 17.95.	    Pacific Century CyberWorks rose 0.05 to 3.50, while Hutchison Whampoa fell 0.50 to 82.50.	    China Mobile lost 0.50 to 35.00 and China Unicom shed 0.40 to 8.80.	    On the GEM board, tom.com was unchanged at 2.00, while Sunevision fell 0.05 to 2.10. 

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