Hong Kong shares closed weaker but well off morning lows yesterday as news of an extension of Anson Chan Fang On-sang's term as Chief Secretary sparked a mini-recovery.
The Hang Seng Index shed 66.23 points to 11,041.01 - its third consecutive close above the 11,000 mark.
The index ended the morning session at 10,919.19 on profit-taking and jitters over a 2.19 per cent fall in the Tokyo stock market.
Mainland shares gained.
'In the afternoon the only excuse one can attribute to the rebound was the extension of Anson Chan's term,' Celestial Securities director Eugene Law Ka-kin said.
Mrs Chan is the second most important administrative official after Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa. Her presence in the Government is a sign of continuity from the pre-handover days.
Among blue chips, Television Broadcasts was the biggest loser, falling 5.49 per cent to $24.10 ahead of today's release of results for last year.
