Shenzhen shares close morning lower amid doubts over institutional support

SHENZHEN (AFX-ASIA) - A-share prices closed the morning lower amid heightened doubts about the level of institutions' commitment to supporting share prices following the release of figures indicating that many domestic securities investment funds trimmed their positions in shares during the first quarter, dealers said.	    The securities funds' quarterly statements, released late last week, indicated a general reduction in the funds' shareholdings as a proportion of net assets, with some funds reducing this proportion by as many as 30 percentage points.	    A-shares also remained under pressure from declines in index-heavyweight Shenzhen Development Bank.	    The bank's shares have seen consistent declines since the company announced it has revised down its net profits in 1998 and 1999 by a combined 752.6 mln yuan, and used all of its earnings in 2000 to fund retroactive provisions on bad loans.	    The A-share sub-index dropped 50.49 points to 5,380.83 on turnover of 4.97 bln yuan after trading between 5,434.34 and 5,375.13.	    B-share prices closed the morning lower after coming off their initial highs as institutional support for large-caps was offset by profit-taking, dealers said, adding that Shenzhen's B-shares continued to see an outflow of funds as investors sought more attractive investment opportunities on the Hong Kong stock market.	    The B-share sub-index closed 15.26 points lower at 2,103.25 after trading between 2,122.87 and 2,099.57.	    The component A- and B-share index closed 45.14 points lower at 4,895.09 on turnover of 10.85 bln yuan after trading to a high of 4,943.12 and a low of 4,889.91.	    Shenzhen Development Bank dropped 0.08 yuan to 16.12 on volume of 3.8 mln shares.	    Angang New Steel shed 0.08 to 4.63 on 4.2 mln shares, while Beijing Shougang dropped 0.21 to 10.81 on 3.5 mln shares.	    Among property shares, China Baoan dropped 0.11 to 7.48 on 2.3 mln shares, while China Vanke shed 0.21 to 15.09 on 1.8 mln shares.	    Monkey King rose 0.32 to 6.78 on 7.7 mln shares.	    Among B-shares with "special treatment" status, Gintian rose 0.01 hkd to 3.73 on 1.6 mln shares, while Shenzhen Properties & Resources rose 0.02 to 6.1 on 1.0 mln shares and Shenzhen Great Ocean rose 0.27 to 7.0 on 3.9 mln shares.	    Among other B-shares, Bengang Steel Plates dropped 0.12 to 4.94 on 6.3 mln shares, while Chongqing Changan shed 0.11 to 4.74 on 2.4 mln shares.	    China Vanke shed 0.15 to 9.93 on 594,000 shares. 

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