PROFIT-taking yesterday took the vigour out of the surge of optimism in Hang Seng Index stocks seen earlier in the week.
Dealers described the selling, which began in London overnight, as healthy consolidation activity after major gains on the index in the past few days.
In contrast, China chips rallied on the Brown effect - the China visit of United States Secretary for Commerce Ron Brown.
The Hang Seng Index fell 38.49 points to 9,890.90 on a big turnover of $6.65 billion as 1.11 billion shares changed hands and 52,808 deals were struck.
Average daily turnover this week has been $6.11 billion, almost double that of last week.
Dealers speculated that the momentum in market activity could be the start of an expected autumn rally.
