HONG KONG (XFN-ASIA) - Share prices finished the morning session slightly lower as profit-taking pushed down select stocks that have made strong gains in the past two days, dealers said.
PCCW fell sharply on market disappointment at the rejection yesterday by minority shareholders of Singapore-listed Pacific Century Regional Developments Ltd (PCRD) of the proposed sale of PCRD's controlling stake in PCCW to a group led by financier Francis Leung, they said.
The Hang Seng Index ended the session down 35.85 points or 0.19 pct at 18,924.63, off a low of 18,880.96 and a high or 18,945.40.
Turnover was 20.8 bln hkd.
Dealers said, however, apart from PCCW, which slid 0.20 hkd or 3.96 pct to 4.85. overall trading on the market was within a tight range.
'Trading was rangebound after recent gains,' said Kitty Chan, director at Celestial Asia Securities.
'Some investors opted to lock in profits in a number of stocks, which rebounded from a sharp fall early this week.'
Among large caps, HSBC shed 0.30 hkd or 0.21 pct to 144.20 and China Mobile lost 0.30 hkd or 0.46 pct to 65.10.
(1 usd = 7.8 hkd)
leonora.walet@xfn.com
lw/net
© 2006 AFX News
