Hong Kong Stocks Fall From a Record; Angang Steel, Cnooc Slide

Hong Kong stocks fell, capping the Hang Seng Index's biggest monthly advance in eight years, as a drop in profit at Angang Steel Co. and lower oil prices fanned concern that recent gains were excessive.

Angang Steel, China's third-largest steelmaker by output, slid the most in four weeks after third-quarter earnings fell on higher costs. Cnooc Ltd. led declines among oil producers as crude oil slumped the most in almost three months.

``The market climbs a wall of worry,'' said Donald Gimbel, who manages $1.8 billion including Hong Kong shares at New York- based Carret & Co. ``People get nervous and they sell a little bit. When people don't worry, watch out.''

The Hang Seng Index fell 214.57, or 0.7 percent, to 31,423.65 at 3:24 p.m., snapping a four-day, 7.9 percent rally. The measure is still up 57 percent this year and yesterday closed at a record. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, which tracks the so-called H shares of 43 mainland companies, slid 1.2 percent to 20,153.31.

The main Hang Seng benchmark pared an earlier decline in the morning session of as much as 1.5 percent as some mutual funds ``took the opportunity to buy on the dips,'' said Andrew Sullivan, head of Asian sales trading at Daiwa Securities SMBC Co. in Hong Kong.

``Fundamentally, you would think the index should correct and go below 30,000 but with this amount of liquidity in the market, that's not about to happen,'' he said.

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