Hong Kong shares close lower on Wall St; small banks/H-shares outperform

HONG KONG (AFX-ASIA) - Share prices closed lower following Wall Street's  declines Friday, with sentiment undercut by concerns about the U.S. economy  after a sharp fall in the U.S. March non-farm employment data, dealers said.       Property counters led the falls amid an uncertain earnings outlook, with  sentiment for the local property market remaining sluggish despite three  rounds of interest rate cuts since early this year, they added.      Bucking the trend were small bank stocks, bolstered by speculation that  Development Bank of Singapore is planning to buy a stake in Dao Heng Bank,  dealers said.      H-shares also fared better than the broader market on a better China  story, they said.      The Hang Seng index closed down 184.51 points or 1.49 pct at 12,202.10,  off a high of 12,355.61 and a low of 12,061.55, on turnover of 6.60 bln hkd.      The Hang Seng April contract last traded at 12,180 points.      The Hang Seng China Enterprises index closed up 4.88 points at 412.52 and  the CAC index dropped 7.72 points to 1,000.14.      TraHK shed 0.20 hkd to 12.40 on volume of 3.54 mln units.      The GEM index closed down 4.71 points at 250.86 on turnover of 55.18 mln  hkd.       Howard Gorges, director of South China Securities, said local shares were  sold down following declines on Wall Street Friday, with sentiment remaining  cautious due to concerns over the outlook for Sino-U.S. relations following  the collision between a U.S. navy aircraft and a Chinese fighter jet.      "I am a bit hesitant to say whether the 12,000-point mark could still be  a key support level for the benchmark index... It is very difficult to make  any forecasts now, given that the U.S. markets remain uncertain," he said.      He said the benchmark index could only stage a rebound when the U.S.  economy begins to show signs of bottoming out.      Dealers said properties were the major losers today amid a negative  outlook for their earnings prospects.      Josephine Hui, director of Celestial Asia Securities, said: "Flat sales  failed to gain any evident benefit from the three rounds of interest rate  reductions since early this year, with the outlook over the property  developers' earnings prospects remaining uncertain."      The property sub-index was down 582.05 points at 15,603.54.      Cheung Kong fell 2.25 hkd to 77.75, Sun Hung Kai Properties shed 2.50 to  67.75, Henderson Land dropped 2.20 to 33.80 and New World Development lost 0. 60 to 8.10.      Sino Land shed 0.225 to 3.00 and Wharf fell 1.15 to 17.50.      Telecom shares also fared poorly, mirroring falls in their U.S.  counterparts Friday, they said.      Hutchison Whampoa fell 1.50 to 76.50, and Pacific Century CyberWorks lost  0.075 to 2.45, while SmarTone was unchanged at 9.00.      China Mobile shed 0.60 to 32.40 after announcing 2000 results, with the  company's earnings coming in slightly lower than market expectations of 18. 56-19.50 bln yuan.      China Mobile reported a 2000 net profit of 18.02 bln yuan against 4.79  bln in 1999.      Dealers said the lower-than-expected profit figure was attributed to the  company's one-off provision of 1.525 bln yuan for its outdated analog mobile  phone network.      Legend lost 0.075 to 4.90 and Johnson Electric shed 0.30 to 12.60.      Bucking the trend were small bank shares on speculation that DBS is  planning to buy a stake in Dao Heng Bank from the latter's parent Guoco  Group, dealers said.      Dao Heng Bank and Guoco Group have remained suspended since Friday.      "Small banks always get boosted from this news, with market players  speculating which will be the next (acquisition target)," Hui said.      Among the small banks which posted rises, IBA gained 0.14 to 1.73, HKCB  Bank added 0.20 to 2.25 and Liu Chong Hing was up 0.25 at 8.50.      On the GEM board, tom.com fell 0.02 to 1.98 after the company said it is  cooperating with China Netcom to launch internet access services in 17 cities  in China.       Sunevision lost 0.07 to 1.91 and hongkong.com was unchanged at 0.28.      New-listing iAsia was at 0.74, higher than its issue price of 0.70 hkd.      In the financial sector, HSBC was up 0.25 at 91.75, Hang Seng Bank was  unchanged at 90.75 and Bank of East Asia was down 0.25 at 16.35.      Among H-shares, Harbin Power rose 0.10 to 0.74, Guangzhou Shipping gained  0.10 to 0.81 and Tsingtao Brewery added 0.025 to 2.30.      TVB was down 3.00 or 7.35 pct at 37.80.			

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