Reuters: Financial Services and Real Estate: Hong Kong shares end down 0.3 pct, Sun Hung Kai hammered

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Hong Kong shares end down 0.3 pct, Sun Hung Kai hammered Mar 30th 2012, 08:12 HONG KONG, March 30 | Fri Mar 30, 2012 4:12am EDT HONG KONG, March 30 (Reuters) - Hong Kong shares ended their best quarter in 2-1/2 years with a whimper on Friday, hit by a slump in local property developers after the arrest of the billionaire owners of Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd on suspected corruption. The Hang Seng Index ended down 0.26 percent on the day but up 11.51 percent this quarter at 20,555.58. The China Enterprises Index of the top mainland listings in Hong Kong finished up 1.02 percent on the day and up 7.08 percent this quarter at 10,640.16. The Shanghai Composite Index closed up 0.47 percent on the day at 2,262.79, bolstered by strength in the banking sector. It finished up 2.88 percent this quarter, ranking among the worst performing benchmarks in Asia. HIGHLIGHTS: * Sun Hung Kai Properties, Asia's largest property developer by market value, plunged 13.1 percent in almost 28 times its 30-day average volume. It finished off the session's low to end at the lowest since early January. Hong Kong's Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) arrested SHKP chairmen and brothers Raymond and Thomas Kwok in the biggest investigation since the agency was launched in 1974. * Strength in Chinese banks limited losses on the day. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd and Bank of China Ltd both rose 1.6 percent after reporting late on Thursday fourth-quarter earnings that were higher than expectations, although non-performing loans increased. WEEK AHEAD: * Beijing is expected to release its official manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) on Sunday. Last week, the HSBC flash purchasing managers index, the earliest indicator of China's industrial activity, fell back to 48.1 from February's four-month high of 49.6. (Reporting by Clement Tan; Editing by Chris Lewis) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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