Hong Kong Shares closed off highs on Friday as investors cashed in gains ahead of the weekend when further developments in the expected war against Iraq may take place.
The Hang Seng Index closed up 28.33 points, or 0.31 percent, at 9,201.76, off a high of 9,253.87 and a low of 9,191.01.
The market turnover stood at 5.437 billion HK dollars (U$697 million).
Dealers said the earlier gains were probably by investors anticipating the expected shift in assets to Asian markets by fund managers ahead of the expected war in Iraq.
Cheung Kong was unchanged at 48.80 hkd, Sun Hung Kai Properties was 0.20 lower at 45.10 and New World Development was up 0.025 at 3.675.
Among telecom stocks, China Mobile was down 0.10 at 17.75 and China Unicom down 0.05 at 5.25. PCCW was down 0.05 at 5.90 and Hutchison was up 0.20 at 48.00.
In the financial sector, HSBC was up 1.00 at 83.50, Bank of East Asia was down 0.05 at 14.15 and BOC Hong Kong steady at 8.00.
China-related stocks were generally lower. The China Enterprises Index was down 35.48 points at 2,180.73 and the CAC Index fell 4.63 points to 1,006.43.
The GEM Index was down 0.30 at 115.42.
(Xinhua News Agency February 14, 2003)
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