HONG KONG - Hong Kong stocks ended lower on Monday as market players pulled back in reaction to news of a pending share placement by New World Development Co Ltd, brokers said.
News that China's Guangdong International Trust and Investment Corp (GITIC) would seek bankruptcy also weighed on bank stocks and
red chips.
The Hang Seng Index closed off 88.43 points, or 0.82 percent, at 10,634.27. Trade was choppy as the index hit a morning high of 10,834.00 and a low of 10,565.49.
"Turnover has been light. I suspect institutions held back their buying to see whether they would get any of the New World shares in the placement," said Howard Gorges, director of South China Brokerage.
New World shares were halted at HK$20.95, up HK$0.20 or about one percent from Friday's close.
Traders said they anticipated that the property and telecommunications conglomerate would place about 117 million shares at HK$20.05 each, worth about HK$2.35 billion.
* In Europe German stocks gained, led by BMW and Mannesmann, amid speculation that companies in the auto and telecommunications industries will expand or merge to keep pace with rivals.
BMW, Germany's third-biggest car-maker, rose 13.3 euros to 746. Mannesmann, a German engineering company which is also the biggest mobile phone operator, rose 1.25 euros to 115.5.
In the U.K., Lasmo, the U.K.'s No. 2 oil exploration andproduction company, and Enterprise Oil, the U.K.'s largest independent oil exploration company, may advance. They confirmed yesterday they're in talks that may lead to a œ2.3 billion ($US3.77 billion) merger.
