Hong Kong shares -- 2 (China Unicom/MTRC may face profit-taking pressure)
At 11:01 am, the Hang Seng Index was up 74.27 points at 13,465.26 on turnover of 2.98 bln hkd, while the Hang Seng May contract last traded at 13,442 points. Lai of OCBC Securities said following the announcement of the inclusion of China Unicom and MTRC into the Hang Seng Index, fund managers rushed to adjust their portfolios to reflect the new composition. "Their inclusion into the Hang Seng Index is no doubt positive for the two stocks in the long run. But after the recent significant rebound, the two stocks may face some profit-taking pressure," Lai said. Lai said MTRC is scheduled to go ex-dividend tomorrow and is expected to undergo further selling pressure. He said investors would be able to take advantage of the cheap valuations if China Unicom falls back to 12.50 hkd and MTRC drops below 13.20 hkd China Unicom rose 1.05 to 12.65 hkd and MTRC gained 0.75 to 13.65. Dealers said with the exception of China Unicom, other telecom stocks were almost flat this morning. China Mobile eased 0.10 to 39.50 and Hutchison Whampoa rose 0.75 to 85.50. Pacific Century CyberWorks was unchanged at 2.825 after a report that the company may lay off employees in August if it fails to impose a plan to encourage its back-office employees to transfer to the sales department. ICBC (Asia) fell 0.15 to 7.15 after the company announced it is to acquire the assets of parent Industrial and Commercial Bank of China's Hong Kong branch. Among China related stocks, PetroChina rose 0.018 to 1.61 and Tsingtao Brewery gained 0.019 to 2.275. On the GEM board, tom.com rose 0.025 to 2.125 and Sunevision gained 0.01 to 1.97.
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