Hong Kong stocks ended lower yesterday in thin, cautious pre-holiday trade, with a lack of new leads to inspire buyers, brokers said. Nava SC Securities director John Schofield said: 'The market's in a bit of a listless trading phase, before a break-out. There's very strong resistance at 15,000 [points]. It couldn't go up above that and since then, we've been struggling.' The Hang Seng Index dropped 219.46 points, or 1.5 per cent, to 14,411.19 yesterday. On Monday it rose 160.19 points. China-related shares were also lower. Turnover was $14.97 billion, sharply lower than the previous session's $20.81 billion. It was the quietest day since July 22, although the value of trade was more than three times the daily average of $5.08 billion this time last year. The market is closed today for the Mid-Autumn Festival. Asia Financial Securities research manager Kinson Au Kin-kee said: 'I think it's a holiday mood . . . The Dow was also a concern. Initially it was up about 50 points, but then it closed lower.' Overnight, share prices in New York shed 21.83 points to 7,721.14. In Hong Kong, the market opened about 30 points weaker and shed 150 points in the opening minutes of trade. The blue-chip measure pared some of that loss going into the mid-session break, but profit-taking pushed it lower again in the afternoon. It was the market's first loss in three sessions. The finance sector bore the brunt of the sales, losing almost 2 per cent. Hang Seng Bank dropped 2.39 per cent to $92, while its parent, financial group HSBC, was 1.74 per cent weaker at $227. The pair account for more than 28 per cent of the Hang Seng Index. Utilities also saw profit-taking pressure, with China Light & Power and Hong Kong and China Gas finishing down. China-related plays sagged as brokers said there was no new direction from the ongoing 15th party congress in Beijing. 'I think that there's no new news from the congress,' Mr Au said. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, which comprises the 34 H-share companies, dropped 3.65 per cent to 1,396.93. The red-chip index dipped 2.37 per cent to 3,781.41. Brokers said investors had also been reluctant to take positions ahead of the release late yesterday of US data on consumer price inflation and factory output. Nikko Research Centre senior analyst Steven Thompson said he saw the market continuing to calm, although there could be occasional ripples from Southeast Asian markets as their governments learned to manage free-floating currencies. 'We expect more of the same going forward . . . getting quieter into November,' Mr Thompson said. KEY FIGURES Close: 14,411.19 (- 219.46) Turnover: $14.97 bln Volume: 8.48 bln shares Day's high: 14,607.11 Day's low: 14,358.55 Advanced: 221 Declined: 633 Unchanged: 374 Sept futures: 14,290 (- 360) October futures: 14,350 (- 365)
