By V. Phani Kumar
HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Hong Kong shares struggled to find direction early Thursday, with Chinese property developers taking a tumble after Beijing unveiled a new set of measures to restrict prices, while telecommunication- and resource-sector stocks rose, limiting the broad-market decline. The Hang Seng Index (HK:HANGSENG 23,939, +95.29, +0.40%) fell 0.3% to 23,764.54, and the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index gave up 0.5% to 12,591.87. Among Hang Seng Index components, shares of China Resources Land Ltd. (HK:1109 14.00, -0.52, -3.58%) (CRBJY 0.00, 0.00, 0.00%) dropped 4.4%, and China Overseas Land & Investment Ltd. (HK:688 14.82, -0.68, -4.39%) (CAOVY 58.75, -0.75, -1.26%) shed 3.7%. The new measures primarily target buyers of a second home, and include higher down payments and interest rates for such buyers. Mainland Chinese banks also dropped, with Bank of China Ltd. (HK:3988 4.09, 0.00, 0.00%) (BACHY 13.03, +0.01, +0.08%) and Bank of Communications Co. (HK:3328 7.71, +0.06, +0.78%) (BCMXY 0.00, 0.00, 0.00%) each losing 0.5%. Among the gainers, Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd. (HK:2600 7.74, +0.10, +1.31%) (ACH 24.66, +0.72, +3.01%) added 1.1%, and China Shenhua Energy Co. (CSUAY 41.65, +1.30, +3.22%) (HK:1088 32.65, +0.70, +2.19%) rose 0.5%, while heavyweight China Mobile Ltd. (CHL 49.30, -0.08, -0.16%) (HK:941 77.15, +0.85, +1.11%) rose 0.5%. China's Shanghai Composite (CN:SHCOMP 2,742, +33.52, +1.24%) declined 0.5% to 2,695.49, also dragged down by property developers. |
