Hong Kong shares close morning lower on profit-taking

Share prices closed the morning lower on profit-taking following yesterday's gains, with sentiment also weighed down by Standard & Poor's downgrade of Hong Kong's local currency ratings outlook and the ratings on HSBC's Hong Kong units, dealers said.

The Hang Seng Index closed the session down 85.69 points or 0.87% at 9,718.96, off a high of 9,803.30 and a low of 9,712.90, on trade of 2.956 billion hkd.