Monday FIVE Shougang stocks were suspended from trading after the group's chief, Zhou Beifang, was arrested in Beijing for 'serious economic crimes.' There was speculation the move had political implications and the share prices of other China-related companies fell 4.83 per cent. THE sacking of six of the seven traders at Capel sparked criticism of the present floor-trading system in Hong Kong. Top brokers said only the introduction of screen-based trading would stop front-running. Tuesday THE Hong Kong Capital Market Association called on banks to standardise document wording in a bid to avoid confusion and uncertainty among investors. Securities and Futures Commission spokesman Bill Weeks said the SFC was looking into the activities of the Shougang group. Wednesday THE first Crown land sale of the year came up with no surprises for the market. Two residential sites were sold at a price slightly higher than expected, but three commercial and mixed industrial and office plots in the New Territories were withdrawn. Thursday MORTGAGE lending by Hong Kong's 33 major lending institutions fell 30.7 per cent year-on-year in January to $4.85 billion, its lowest level in almost two years. Analysts believed the fall was due to developers delaying new projects and shrinking public demand. HONG KONG and Shanghai Hotels reported a strong profit of $691 million for the year ending December 31, a 29 per cent leap over the previous year. The increase was aided by the sale of shares in the Harbour Centre development. Friday HONG KONG'S public expenditure for the coming financial year is set to surge beyond the $200 billion mark, with major increases in welfare and environmental programmes. The proposed government spending represents an increase of 5.9 per cent in real growth, higher than the five per cent economic growth rate. THE Hang Seng Bank is to raise its mortgage lending ceiling for luxury residential properties to 70 per cent in March.
