960422

HK stocks close

with solid gain

HONG KONG: A technical rebound and some futures-led buying helped Hong Kong stocks end a sleepy session with a solid gain.

"It looked to be quite positive most of the day," said Miles Remington at Crosby Securities. "We've seen futures suddenly move up a little bit."

The Hang Seng index finished up 91 points, or 0.85 percent, at nearly 10,910. But that was 79 points off the session high.

The most active April Hang Seng index futures contract, which held a narrow premium to cash throughout the session, ended with a 120-point gain on turnover of 15,163 contracts.

Analysts said the Hang Seng's successful test of support at 10,800 last Friday set the stage for a rebound today, but few expected a long-lasting bounce to emerge.

"It's a 100-point gain, but it may be eroded tomorrow," said Elton Cheung, research manager at Tai Fook Securities. "There may not be much upside. At most 11,300."

"If you look at turnover, it's a little disappointing," he added. Turnover came to HK$3.99 billion compared with a revised HK$3.18 billion on Friday.

Analysts said some positive comments from U.S. officials regarding the renewal of China's Most Favoured Nation status in the U.S. had improved local sentiment but not enough to touch off a rush of cash into the stock market.

Traders said activity was relatively featureless, with talk about a possible call warrant issue on HSBC Holdings by UBS Securities one highlight.

Few details were available and UBS declined comment. Some traders said the brokerage was just floating the idea to determine investor interest. HSBC shares rose HK$2 to HK$116.

Property stocks were among the market leaders after being hit by profit-taking last week. Among them, Cheung Kong rose HK$0.75 to HK$54.25 and Hang Lung gained HK$0.40 to HK$14.55.

Ceramics machinery maker Siu-Fung Ceramics ended down HK$0.07 at HK$1.38 after the company confirmed it would seek a share listing for a subsidiary on the New York Stock Exchange.

Traders said Hongkong Telecom benefited from bargain hunting after dropping more than HK$1 over the last two weeks. The stock rose HK$0.30 to HK$14.85. The H-share index rebounded after a sharp drop last week, gaining 2.82 points, or 0.35 percent, to 818.58. HK stocks close with solid gain but off day's high

HONG KONG, April 22 (Reuter) - A technical rebound and some futures-led buying helped Hong Kong stocks end a sleepy session with a solid gain.

"It looked to be quite positive most of the day," said Miles Remington at Crosby Securities. "We've seen futures suddenly move up a little bit."

The Hang Seng index finished up 91 points, or 0.85 percent, at nearly 10,910. But that was 79 points off the session high.

The most active April Hang Seng index futures contract, which held a narrow premium to cash throughout the session, ended with a 120-point gain on turnover of 15,163 contracts.

Analysts said the Hang Seng's successful test of support at 10,800 last Friday set the stage for a rebound today, but few expected a long-lasting bounce to emerge.

"It's a 100-point gain, but it may be eroded tomorrow," said Elton Cheung, research manager at Tai Fook Securities. "There may not be much upside. At most 11,300."

"If you look at turnover, it's a little disappointing," he added. Turnover came to HK$3.99 billion compared with a revised HK$3.18 billion on Friday.

Analysts said some positive comments from U.S. officials regarding the renewal of China's Most Favoured Nation status in the U.S. had improved local sentiment but not enough to touch off a rush of cash into the stock market.

Traders said activity was relatively featureless, with talk about a possible call warrant issue on HSBC Holdings by UBS Securities one highlight.

Few details were available and UBS declined comment. Some traders said the brokerage was just floating the idea to determine investor interest. HSBC shares rose HK$2 to HK$116.

Property stocks were among the market leaders after being hit by profit-taking last week. Among them, Cheung Kong rose HK$0.75 to HK$54.25 and Hang Lung gained HK$0.40 to HK$14.55.

Ceramics machinery maker Siu-Fung Ceramics ended down HK$0.07 at HK$1.38 after the company confirmed it would seek a share listing for a subsidiary on the New York Stock Exchange.

Traders said Hongkong Telecom benefited from bargain hunting after dropping more than HK$1 over the last two weeks. The stock rose HK$0.30 to HK$14.85. The H-share index rebounded after a sharp drop last week, gaining 2.82 points, or 0.35 percent, to 818.58.-Reuter