HONG KONG |
HONG KONG Nov 15 (Reuters) – Hong Kong shares tracked
lower on Tuesday, dragged by weakness in financial and property
stocks as investor appetites for risk ebbed after Italy paid a
euro-era high to sell five-year bonds.
The Hang Seng Index closed down 0.82 percent at
19,348.44. The China Enterprises Index of top mainland
companies listed in Hong Kong ended down 0.74 percent at
10,637.86.
The Shanghai Composite Index inched up 0.04 percent
to 2,529.76, steady at about the 76.4 percent Fibonacci
retracement of its rise from the 2008 trough to 2010 peak, with
strength in power companies outweighing weakness in financials.
HIGHLIGHTS:
* Turnover slowed after surging at midday to the highest
since Oct. 28, with China Construction Bank Corp
accounting for the bulk of trading volume after Bank of America
Corp sold off most of its remaining stake in the lender
to boost capital.. CCB reversed early losses to
gain 1.1 percent, but chart indicators suggest choppy trading
and more near-term downside pressure for the Hong Kong listing
of China’s second-largest bank.
* CCB has lost almost 20 percent in the year to date,
compared with a 16 percent loss on the Hang Seng Index,
suffering the brunt of a selloff in the third quarter as
investors priced in a hard landing for the Chinese economy and
the bank’s exposure to bad debts in the mainland. It is trading
at about 6.2 times its forward 12-month earnings, about half of
its 10-year median.
* Greenheart Group Ltd surged 93.3 percent in
volume exceeding 40 times its 30-day average after majority
stakeholder Sino-Forest Corp said an independent
committee had found no evidence of fraud at the Toronto-listed
timber company. Sino-Forest shares have been savaged this year
following allegations from short-seller Muddy
Waters. Even with Tuesday’s gains, Greenheart is
down more than 58 percent this year.
(Reporting by Clement Tan; Editing by Chris Lewis)