Friday May 9, 06:18 AM
Hong Kong shares end morning sharply lower on regional weakness, oil price rise
HONG KONG (Thomson Financial) - Hong Kong shares finished the morning session sharply lower on Friday following a slump in major regional bourses as investors were spooked by runaway crude oil prices, which had barrelled through new records
above $124 a barrel.
The Hang Seng index ended the session down 411.73 points or 1.6 percent at 25,038.06.
Turnover was HK$44.7 billion
The mainland's biggest oil refiners, China Petroleum and Chemical Corp or (Sinopec) and PetroChina fell as investors worried that a continued rise in oil prices would put further pressure on refining margins.
Investors also decided to lock in profits ahead of the long weekend, with Monday being a public holiday, while shares of many listed mainland companies trended lower, tracking the Shanghai market's decline.
'Several negative factors have dragged down local stocks apart from crude oil prices, which weighed down the region,' said Peter Lai, investment manager at DBS Vickers.
'The long weekend encouraged profit-taking, while sentiment on the A-share market has turned cautious due to data expected next week and negative news concerning more shares flooding the market,' he said.
Also on Monday, China will be announcing its consumer inflation data for April. Analysts expect the CPI (NYSE: CPY - news) to remain above 8 percent.
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