The market was steady in the morning but was unhappy with the results of the land auction. The price paid was 48% above the initial bid but within the top of the range predicted by analysts. The problem was it was not bought by Cheung Kong (#1)or Hutchison (#13)or any one of Li Ka Shing's companies.

You may recall that after the previous auction, the market was very blase even though the price paid was way above expectations. That is, it was blase until Cheung Kong owned up to buying it. Then it exploded.

After yesterday's more than 300 point drop, today was a shoo-in.