Hong Kong shares close morning lower on Wall Street losses

HONG KONG (AFX-ASIA) - Share prices closed the morning lower on  profit-taking in line with Wall Street's declines on Friday, while expectations of further interest rate cuts by the U.S. Federal Reserve provided some support, dealers said.	    They said telecom and bank blue chips came under greater profit-taking pressure, while Chinese state-run shares extended their upward momentum to outperform the broader market on the back of China's robust economic growth.	     The Hang Seng index closed the session down 76.76 points at 13,371.37, off an early low of 13,317.41 and an early high of 13,444.41, on turnover of 3.81 bln hkd.	    The Hang Seng April contract last traded at 13,415 points.	    The Hang Seng China Enterprises index was up 10.52 points at 453.95 and  the CAC index was up 12.44 points at 1,150.37.	    TraHK was unchanged at 13.60 hkd on volume of 2.29 mln units.	    The GEM index was up 0.76 points at 269.75 on turnover of 109.10 mln  hkd.	    Kenneth Tang, assistant manager with Vickers Ballas, said local share price movements reflected those of their U.S. counterparts.	    "While profit-taking pressure emerged, hopes of more interest rate cuts in the U.S. capped the losses," Tang said.	    "With the rate cut expectations, the Hang Seng Index is expected to trade above 13,000 points," Tang said.	    Tang said the telecom sector turned weaker on falls on the NASDAQ, adding, investors remained cautious about the movement of global telecom shares.	    China Mobile fell 0.40 to 37.50 hkd on trade of 7.24 mln shares.	    Hutchison Whampoa lost 0.50 to 87.25 and SmarTone eased 0.15 to 9.35.	    Pacific Century CyberWorks was unchanged at 2.70.	    In the banking sector, HSBC fell 1.50 to 97.75 and Hang Seng Bank lost 0.25 to 95.00.	    Bank of East Asia eased 0.35 to 17.35.	    Dealers said small and medium sized banks outperformed major stocks on expectations they will be involved in more acquisition and merger deals after DBS Bank's takeover of Dao Heng Bank.	    International Bank of Asia rose 0.175 hkd or 8.04 pct to 2.35 hkd.	    Wing Hang Bank gained 0.80 to 30.30 and Wing Lung Bank added 0.40 to 36.60.	    HKCB Bank fell 0.088 to 3.70, while CITIC Ka Wah Bank rose 0.05 to 2.525.	    Dealers said flat sales results over the weekend helped the property sector offset profit-taking pressure.	    Cheung Kong rose 2.00 to 88.00, while New World Development was unchanged at 9,80.	    Sun Hung Kai Properties fell 0.75 to 73.25 and Henderson Land eased 0.50 to 37.00.	    Dealers said H shares gained on improved perceptions of profitability, with buying focussing on smaller cap stock.	    Donggang Electrical rose 0.12 to 1.18 and Northeast Electrical gained 0.09 to 0.82.	    Qingling Motors added 0.13 to 1.61 and Harbin Power rose 0.07 to 0.92 after their 2000 results, while PetroChina added 0.04 to 1.51 ahead of its 2000 results due this afternoon, and Stone fell 0.06 to 1.03 on lower-than-expected 2000 results.	    On the GEM board, tom.com fell 0.075 to 2.125, while Sunevision was unchanged at 1.98 and hongkong.com rose 0.01 to 0.37. 

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