Hong Kong shares close lower on continued profit taking; China plays higher

HONG KONG (AFX-ASIA) - Share prices closed lower on continued profit taking following the decline on Wall Street, dealers said.	    They said telecom stocks were generally lower after brokerage downgrades  for Intel and Oracle, while red chips and H-shares continued to outperform the broader market on their positive earnings prospects.	    The Hang Seng index closed down 36.89 points at 13,274.61, off a low of 13,157.40 and a high of 13,279.33, on turnover of 7.28 bln hkd.	    The Hang Seng April contract last traded at 13,256 points.	    The Hang Seng China Enterprises index was up 4.39 points at 460.80, while  the CAC index rose 9.62 points to 1,162.44.	    TraHK was down 0.10 hkd at 13.40 on volume of 2.73 mln units.	    The GEM index was down 0.83 points at 266.87 on turnover of 276.24 mln hkd.	    Kenny Tang, associate director of Tung Tai Securities, said the Hang Seng Index continued to correct from last week's gains, which were sparked by the U.S. interest rate cut.	    "The market was quiet ahead of the long weekend ... and the benchmark index just followed the decline on Wall Street last night," he said.	    Tang said telecom stocks turned generally weaker after brokerage downgrades  for Intel and Oracle.	    China Mobile fell 0.60 to 36.90 hkd on volume of 12.33 mln shares.	    Analysts said the newly announced adjustments in interconnection charges  will have little impact on China Mobile's share price.	    Hutchison Whampoa shed 0.25 to 86.00, China Unicom dropped 0.05 to 10.75 and SmarTone fell 0.15 to 9.25. 	    Pacific Century CyberWorks was unchanged at 2.70.	    In the banking sector, HSBC rose 1.25 to 98.25, Hang Seng Bank was steady at 95.25, Bank of East Asia gained 0.30 to 17.70 and Dao Heng Bank added 0.75 to 57.00.	    Pacific Century Insurance rose 0.125 to 2.625 ahead of the book close for  its bonus issue.	    Among property stocks, Cheung Kong was unchanged at 87.0, Sun Hung Kai Properties shed 0.5 to 71.50 and Henderson Land lost 0.70 to 36.00.	    New World Development rose 0.40 to 10.25 on speculation the company will  soon strike a deal to dispose of Regent Hotel.	    Li & Fung shed 0.75 to 13.85.	    Outperforming the broader market were H-shares and red-chips, which continued to benefit from recent positve earnings news, dealers said.	    PetroChina rose 0.04 to 1.55 after the release of its 2000 results yesterday.	    Beijing Yanhua gained 0.05 to 1.12, Shanghai Petrochemical aded 0.02 to 1.08 and China Eastern Airlines finished up 0.01 at 1.05.	    Qingling Motors rose 0.08 to 1.70 after its 2000 results.	    On the GEM board, tom.com fell 0.025 to 2.025 and Sunevision shed 0.02 to 1.92.	    China Online was up 0.043 at 0.125 after the release of its 2000 results. The company reported a net profit of 1.33 bln hkd, compared with 260.38 mln in the previous year. 

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