Hong Kong stocks opened higher on Tuesday afternoon after trading resumed, but failed to hold above the 21,000 mark as selling pressure mounted.
Trading on Hong Kong stock market was suspended in the morning due to the influence of Typhoon Koppu. The benchmark Hang Seng Index opened up 0.56 percent at 21,049.22 after trading resumed, tracking gains on the Wall Street and the Chinese mainland.
But selling pressure mounted thereafter to push the blue chip index below the 21,000 mark. It ended down 65.83 points, or 0.31 percent, at 20,866.37.
Turnover for the half-day session totaled 30.99 billion HK dollars (3.97 billion U.S. dollars), compared with Monday's rather modest turnover of 50.87 billion HK dollars (6.52 billion U.S. dollars) for the full day session.
Analysts were mixed on the near-term prospects of the stock market, which has rebounded over 90 percent since the collapse of Lehman Brothers a year ago. Some saw the possibility of further breakthrough in the near term while others called on investors to be cautious as the price of the stocks were already pretty high.
The Hang Seng Index futures was trading at a discount of 42 points.
Market heavyweight HSBC bucked the trend to gain 0.95 HK dollar, or 1.13 percent, to close at 84.8 HK dollars. Local unit Hang SengBank also advanced 0.44 percent.
The finance shares turned out the only gainer among the four major stock categories, finishing the day up 0.3 percent. The properties were down 1.01 percent and the commerce and industry sub-index was down 0.99 percent.
The mainland-based finance share ended mixed, with Bank of China gaining 0.71 percent, ICBC losing 0.67 percent and China Construction Bank flat.
China Life was down 0.29 percent and Ping An down 0.08 percent.
China Mobile, the leading carrier on the mainland, lost 0.85 HK dollar, or 1.1 percent, at 76.5 HK dollars. Its smaller rival China Unicom edged down 0.17 percent.
Cheung Kong, the flagship of Hong Kong's richest man Li Ka- shing, ended down 1.04 percent, and Sun Hung Kai Properties, the leading residential housing developer in the southern Chinese special administrative region, closed down 0.88 percent.
HKEx, the only stock exchange operator in Hong Kong, was up 0. 21 percent.
Sino-Life Group, the recently listed provider of funeral services, shot as much as 75 percent before closing at 3.1 HK dollars, up 28.63 percent.
BYD Company, the mainland-based battery and auto maker, also surged 7.25 percent to close at the fresh high of 66.6 HK dollars.
Source: Xinhua
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