Hong Kong stocks end higher as property sector gains

Hong Kong stocks closed slightly higher Fridays as property sector led the moderate gains, but a fall in China-related stocks, or H shares, limited the rise to resume 16,000 level.

The blue-chip Hang Seng Index rose 18.28 points, or 0.12 percent, to 15,601.27 after hitting an intraday high of 15,956.46. The index gained 7.1 percent, or 1,055 points, this week. Turnover rose to 75.30 billion HK dollars (about 9.73 billion US dollars) from Thursday's 74.63 billion HK dollars (about 9.64 billion US dollars).

Cheung Kong rose 0.9 percent to 76.76 HK dollars, but was off its intraday high of 79.60 HK dollars. It said it sold more than 90 percent of 1,068 units in a residential project in the New Territories since its launch Thursday.

Goldman Sachs also upgraded its view on the Hong Kong property sector to neutral from cautious, following the report, Sino Land jumped 9.8 percent to 10.24 HK dollars and Hang Lung Properties rose 1.7 percent to 21.30 percent.

Among the H shares, Chalco shed 4.5 percent to 6.22 HK dollars. PetroChina dropped 1.5 percent to 6.73 HK dollars and China Construction Bank was off 0.8 percent at 4.70 HK dollars.

Cathay Pacific fell 3.4 percent to 9.25 HK dollars. The Hong Kong-based airline said Friday its first-quarter revenue from passenger and cargo services fell 22.4 percent from a year ago, and it was to ask some staff to take unpaid leave.

The airline reported a net loss of 8.6 billion Hong Kong dollars (1.1 billion U.S. dollars) for 2008, a dramatic turnaround from the previous year's profit of 7 billion HK dollars. The company will also reduce passenger and cargo capacity.

HKEx rose 0.5 percent to 89.35, but off intraday high of 91.95 HK dollars.

Mengniu rose 4.83 percent to 13.02 HK dollars on rebound after Thursday's 5.6 percent decline on worse-than-expected 2008 results. After hit by melamine scandal last year, Mengniu's sales of liquid milk recovered rapidly, as first quarter sales volume had recovered to 80 percent of pre-melamine crisis level.

Hong Kong stocks closed 0.55 percent lower on Thursday as PetroChina led drops in blue chips on profit-taking, while index heavyweight China Mobile and Esprit helped limit the market's decline.

The blue-chip Hang Seng Index fell 86.63 points to 15,582.99, after trading between 15,517.39 and the year-to-date high of 15, 977.13. Turnover rose to 74.63 billion HK dollars (about 9.64 billion U.S. dollars) from Wednesday's 66.26 billion HK dollars ( about 8.56 billion U.S. dollars).

The market recovered some ground after early intra-day lows following the release of the first quarter GDP data of China, but resumed the downtrend in the afternoon session.

China's GDP expanded by 6.1 percent in the first quarter, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. The data was largely in line with market expectations.

PetroChina fell 2.3 percent to 6.83 HK dollars and Sinopec shed 1.0 percent to 5.93 HK dollars. Sinopec dropped 1.00 percent to 5.93 HK dollars.

However, China Mobile, which had lagged the market rally, rose 1.4 percent to 74.15 HK dollars, while Esprit jumped 4.98 percent to 40.05 HK dollars, recovering from recent weakness caused by management changes at the company.

PICC P&C tumbled 9.7 percent to 4.73 HK dollars after reporting a 98 percent drop in 2008 net profit to 50 million yuan from 2.99 billion yuan for the previous year.

China Cosco fell 3.92 percent to 7.11 HK dollars and Bank of China moved down 2.05 percent to 2.86 HK dollars.

China Eastern Airlines fell 5.6 percent to 1.34 HK dollars, after its worse-than-expected 2008 results. The airline swung to a net loss of 15.3 billion yuan last year from a net profit of 379 million yuan the previous year.