Nasdaq Makes Debut in Hong Kong With no Big Bang

The debut of seven stocks listed on the Nasdaq index in Hong Kong on Wednesday proved a yawn to investors despite the spectacular gains of Nasdaq the day before, dealers said in Hong Kong.

Seven Nasdaq stocks, icluding microchip giant Intel Corp., personal computer maker Dell Computer Co., and coffee retailer Starbucks, debuted on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong in what was described as a "pilot program" for cross listings between Hong Kong and the Nasdaq.

Acting financial secretary Rafael Hui described the debut of seven Nasdaq stocks as "an important day" for Hong Kong's financial sector.

"It is a big encouragement to us," said Hui.

John Wall, president of the Nasdaq, described the debut of the seven stocks as groundbreaking.

But dealers said there were not much enthusiam for the seven Nasdaq stocks, despite the Nasdaq on Tuesday posting the highest ever single-day percentage rise in its history.

The index, which comprises high technology and Internet stocks, soared 254.37 points, or 7.94 percent, to 3,459.48 points, on Wall Street.

Patrick Yiu, senior manager at Kingsway Securities, said "the shares only attract small retail investors."

"Institutional investors would rather buy and sell these stocks in their (US) home base," said Yiu.

"It's also very difficult to attract day traders due to the time lag between the US and Hong Kong," he said.

The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong signed a co-listing agreement with national Association of Securities Dealers, which runs Nasdaq, in December last year.

Dealers said the seven US shares were traded not more than 5.0 percent higher than their closing price on Wall Street on Tuesday.

Alex Tang, research director at Core Pacific-Yamaichi, said the turnover for the seven stocks was disappointingly low at just HK$13 million (US$1.67 million).

"They did not attract storng buying and the performance was beloew the market's expectation," said Tang.

Microsoft closed at 512.00 dollars and Intel closed at 1,010 dollars.

Computer chip equipment maker Applied Materials was the most actively traded stock among the seven, closing at 670.00 dollars.

Dell closed at 358.00 dollars, biotechnology firm Amgen Inc. at 518.00 dollars, Internet router maker Cisco at 482.00 dollars, and Starbucks at 266.00 dollars.



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