Hong Kong shares close lower on US worries; properties, MTR help HSI off lows

Share prices closed lower, but off the day's lows, following a sell-off on Wall Street after US jobs data sparked fresh fears of a recession in the world's largest economy.

Data released Friday showed that the US economy added only 18,000 jobs in December, the worst showing since August 2003. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate rose to a two-year high of 5.0 pct.

Sourcing firm Li & Fung, which supplies to firms such as Wal-Mart, tumbled 6.6 pct on worries over reduced demand from the US, while other exporters also fell sharply.

Dealers noted that the benchmark index came off the day's lows as property stocks recovered from early falls.

MTR Corp also helped limit the market's losses as the railway operator and property developer surged 9 pct after Credit Suisse raised its target price and earnings forecasts for the company.

The Hang Seng index closed down 340.2 points or 1.24 pct at 27,179.49, off a low of 26,698.54 and high of 27,186.07.

Turnover was at 113.54 bln hkd.

The property sub-index finished up 561.65 points at 1.48 pct at 38,452.46.

Li & Fung lost 2.05 hkd or 6.61 pct at 28.95, while MTR was up 2.9 hkd or 9.06 pct at 34.9.