Investment Daily Note

Dow off 82 pts on downbeat economic figures .

The February reading of Chicago PMI fell steeper than expected to the lowest since July 2009, pulling US stocks down. Dow closed at 18,133, down 82 points. S&P 500 closed at 2,105, down 6 points. NASDAQ closed at 4,964, down 24 points. ADRs fell in the US market, with their closing prices effectively putting HSI down 97 points, closing at 24,726. US drilling rig counts fell for 12 weeks straight, fuelling gains on oil prices. New York crude oil futures closed at US$49.76/bbl, up US$1.59. Gold prices were spurred by increased demands on physical gold upon the end of the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday. New York gold futures settled at US$1,213.1/oz, up US$3.

HSI came back from 25,100-resistance point; HKMA tightened mortgage rules .

The Hang Seng Index opened flat and climbed to a peak at 25,101 points in morning trade, led by the strength in property sector after Hutchison (13.HK, HK$106.20) reported substantial property revaluation gains. The Index eased after midday on pullback in property plays, last trading at 24,823, down 78 points. The HSCEI settled at 12,185, down 41 points. The market turnover was HK$76.6bn. New World Dev (17.HK, HK$9.15) delivered a set of interim results growing 30% from the same period last year. Stock price drifted downwards by 1.5%. SHK PPT (16.HK, HK$121.60) announced after market close an interim net profit of HK$8.463bn, short of market forecasts. Besides, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority announced to tighten mortgage lending rules. On market optimism FDD-LTE 4G network would soon be available in China, China Unicom (762.HK, HK$13.06) gained 1.7% while China Mobile (941.HK, HK$105.70) fell 1.4%. Macau casino stocks came back from multi days of losses. Sands China (1928.HK, HK$35.40) and Galaxy Ent (27.HK, HK$39.40) were up 2.3% and 2.2% respectively.