Roundup: Hong Kong stocks turn around, following mainland cues

HONG KONG, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Hong Kong stocks closed in positive ground as it followed mainland cues to turn around on Tuesday afternoon, although heavy-weighted blue chip China Mobile suffered losses upon release of its first quarter earnings.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index followed slight overnight losses on Wall Street to open at 24,460.64, down 261.03 points, or 1.06 percent. The key barometer began to narrow its losses soon after but remain in negative ground during morning trading.

Turnaround in the Chinese mainland markets in the afternoon helped give the Hang Seng Index a second gaining day. It closed at 24,939.15, up 0.88 percent.

The blue chip index moved between 24,965.74 and 24,413.25. Turnover was slightly higher at 87.74 billion HK dollars (11.25 billion U.S. dollars).

Local analysts said the Hang Seng Index may rise to around 26, 000 in recent weeks if the mainland market started to turn around.

But the big picture remained dim as uncertainties were still likely to surface in the global credit market. Adam Cordery of Schroders said weaker corporate earnings growth will be expected in the United States and Europe in the coming weeks and months.

Thirty-three of the total 43 blue chips were gainers while the others lost Tuesday.

China Mobile, the largest blue chip on the Hong Kong exchange by capitalization and by far the largest carrier on the Chinese mainland, lost 2.8 HK dollars, or 2.08 percent, at 131.9 HK dollars, dragging the Hang Seng Index down by 73.17 points alone.

The company reported a growth of 37 percent in its net profit for the first quarter, slightly lower than previous estimates. But major traders said the growth was still fairly good and Citigroup maintained its rating of BUY for the stock and the target price of 150 HK dollars.

Banking giant HSBC, another heavyweight, also dragged the blue chip index down by 25.88 points as it lost 0.68 percent to close at 131.5 HK dollars. HSBC's local unit Hang Seng Bank went up 152.4 HK dollars, or 0.99 percent, at 152.4 HK dollars.

PetroChina surged 0.66 HK dollars, or 6.52 percent, at 10.78 HKdollars, contributing 60.54 points alone to the rise of the Hang Seng Index.

The finance sub-index, one of the four major categories, added 326.38 points, or 0.9 percent, at 36,524.52; the commerce and industry genre gained 0.88 percent at 14,492.51 and the properties sub-index gained the most, up 1.18 percent, at 31,153.24.

The utilities category edged down 10.03 points, or 0.02 percent, at 44,473.80.

Property giant Cheung Kong, chaired by Hong Kong's richest man Li Ka-shing, wormed up 0.1 HK dollars, or 0.08 percent, at 119.6 HK dollars.

Hong Kong's largest residential house developer SHK Properties staged a second day of rally by adding 1.4 HK dollars at 132.2.

China Unicom, the mainland-based carrier and a far second behind China Mobile, lost 0.12 HK dollars, or 0.72 percent, to finish at 16.58 HK dollars.

ICBC, the largest of the Chinese mainland-based commercial banks, added 0.14 HK dollars, or 2.34 percent, to close at 6.12 HK dollars, while CCB, or the China Construction Bank, went up 2.84 percent at 6.53 HK dollars.

Bank of China posted a gain of 0.03 HK dollars, or 0.8 percent, at 3.78 HK dollars, while its local unit BOC Hong Kong added 1.22 percent at 19.96 HK dollars.

Mainland-based insurer China Life rose 2.35 percent to close at 30.5 HK dollars, while competitor Ping An lost 0.05 HK dollars, or 0.08 percent, at 62.9 HK dollars. (7.8 HK dollars = 1 U.S. dollar)