HK shares close lower with China Mobile's dragging

Special Report:Global Financial Crisis　

By Hou Liping

HONG KONG, Dec. 24 (Chinese media) -- Losses on Wall Street overnight led Hong Kong shares to close lower Wednesday, weighed by a decline in blue-chip heavyweight China Mobile, but Cathay Pacific bucked the trend on falling crude prices.

The blue-chip Hang Seng Index fell 36.65 points, or 0.3 percent, to 14,184.14 in a shortened trading session ahead of the two-day Christmas holiday. The index traded between 13,855.89 and 14,300. 70.

Turnover totaled 18.34 billion Hong Kong dollars (2.36 billion U.S. dollars), down from 31.95 billion Hong Kong dollars (4.13 billion U.S. dollars) Tuesday, while up from 17.49 billion HK dollars (2.25 billion U.S. dollars) at Tuesday's midday break.

The market was weighed by the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 1.2 percent and the Nasdaq dropping 0.7 percent overnight. Traders said they expect turnover in the Hong Kong market to remain low in the remaining sessions of the year.

Blue chips were mixed, with heavyweight mainland wireless operator China Mobile dragging the market lower by falling 1.3 percent to 74.50 HK dollars.

Oil majors also fell, because of weak crude prices. Upstream oil producer CNOOC fell 0.6 percent to 6.64 HK dollars and PetroChina lost 1.2 percent to 6.36 HK dollars after crude oil futures ended lower for the seventh time in eight sessions on concerns about weak demand.

The falling oil prices helped Cathay Pacific, which rose 4 percent to 8.66 HK dollars.

HSBC also helped narrow losses on the blue-chip index, snapping a four-day losing streak on concerns it may need to raise funds amid the financial crisis. The bank rose 0.3 percent to 73.95 HK dollars after declining 12.7 percent in the past four sessions.

PCCW also defied the market downtrend, rising 3.7 percent to 3.35 HK dollars on news Hong Kong's telecommunications regulator approved a plan to take the company private.

China's electrical appliance retail giant GOME will be removed from the Hang Seng China Enterprise Index as of Jan. 5, 2009, for prolonged suspension of the company. Trading of GOME has been suspended since Nov. 24 after its chairman Huang Guangyu was under the Chinese police investigation for alleged "economic crime." The company will also be removed from five other indexes of the Hang Seng Indexes Company Ltd..

Indexes composer will include Harbin Power, China's thermal power equipment producer, to take GOME's place in the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index and five other indexes beginning Jan. 5, 2009. Harbin went up 2.86 percent to 5.75 HK dollars.

The finance sub-index went down 9.22 points or 0.04 percent to 21,774.85.

The properties sub-index rose 74.50 points or 0.44 percent at 17,133.54.

The commerce and industry sub-index went down 55.45 points or 0.72 percent to 7,638.55.

The utilities sub-index went up 54.78 points or 0.17 percent at 33,115.34. (7.7595 HK dollars = 1 U.S. dollar)