Hong Kong shares were largely flat on Tuesday as property stocks recovered from a fall caused by weaker-than-expected bids at a government land auction. The benchmark Hang Seng Index gained 19.22 points, or 0.1 percent, to close at 21,499.44. Turnover was 34.4 billion Hong Kong dollars (4.4 billion US dollars).
Two parcels of residential land sold Monday in the city's New Territories for a total of 10.4 billion Hong Kong dollars (1.3 billion dollars US), less than what the market had estimated, analysts said. But negative market reaction to the news was overstated, they added. "High land cost is never good news to developers anyway," Sylvia Wong, an analyst at UOB KayHian, told Dow Jones Newswires.
Paul Louie, an analyst at Nomura, told Dow Jones: "Although the market may be initially disappointed, the auction actually shows good discipline by the developers." The Hang Seng's property sub-index rose 1.2 percent after falling 0.7 percent Monday.
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