Property shares were most active as Hong Kong stock prices closed marginally higher yesterday. 'It's not worth looking at the broad market, people are looking at specific stories,' Kleinwort Benson Securities Asia director Simon Hicks said. The Hang Seng Index closed up 23.05 points at 10,982.77. Turnover was $4.24 billion, up from Monday's $3.38 billion. Hang Seng June futures closed up 10 points at 10,985, while July futures closed unchanged at 11,040. Strong public demand for housing units at Henderson Land's Metro City development over the weekend continued to carry the property sector higher yesterday. Henderson Land Development closed at $58.25, up $1.75 or 3.1 per cent. Great Eagle Holdings closed up 25 cents, or 1.12 per cent, at $22.55. But not all property related counters managed gains. New World Development fell 60 cents to $35.50, down 1.66 per cent. Brokers blamed the fall on a South China Morning Post report that New World was negotiating to sell part of its commercial development in Sheung Wan for a lower than expected price of $9,000 per square foot. They also said some investors were disappointed the firm would issue convertible bonds on its mainland property portfolio later this summer. HSBC James Capel Asia analyst Walter Cheng (quote actually given by Nicholas Wong - see correction) said the bond issue meant an expected spin-off of New World's Chinese property would not go ahead for at least two years, a fact that sparked profit-taking by short-term investors. Small-cap shares posted some of the most impressive gains. ABC Communications jumped 19 cents, or 12.5 per cent, to close at $1.71 after rumours it was planning to sell shares in its mobile phone joint venture SmarTone Telecommunications. Meanwhile, a number of China-related stocks saw losses yesterday. Shougang Concord International Enterprises fell five cents, or 3.96 per cent, to $1.21 after it released a statement to the stock exchange saying it did not know why its share price surged 7.7 per cent on Monday. Chinese television maker Nanjing Panda Electronics fell 14 cents, or 9.59 per cent, to $1.32 after it cut its prices to meet increased competition, brokers said. The market is expected to trade in a narrow range today ahead of tomorrow's expiry of June futures.
