HK shares rebound more than 1 pct in choppy trade

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By Rita Chang

HONG KONG, Dec 19 (Reuters) - Hong Kong stocks rebounded on
Wednesday as investors took heart in Wall Street gains, with oil
producer PetroChina Co Ltd (0857.HK) halting a five-session
declining streak.

After a promising morning, shares fell in the afternoon in
tandem with the Japanese equity market, Asia's largest, erasing
the morning's gains before the buying momentum gathered pace.

"People are sceptical of the market right now. Any major news
can trigger an upside or downside. People are trying to take
profits quickly -- that's the theme for the rest of the year,"
said Jackson Wong, investment manager at Tanrich Securities.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index .HSI ended up 1.1 percent,
or 296.39 points, at 27,029.26.

The China Enterprises index of H-shares .HSCE, or Hong
Kong-listed shares in mainland companies, gained 1.2 percent, or
189.21 points, to 15,638.68.

Mainboard turnover was HK$82.3 billion (US$10.6 billion)
compared to Tuesday's HK$103.4 billion.

"We can see the turnover is shrinking, so even though the
market reboudned, the upward momentum isn't so great," said Linus
Yip, strategist at First Shanghai Securities, adding that a
year-end rally was unlikely now.

"We should hover around 27,000 points the rest of the year."

PetroChina put on 1.8 percent to HK$13.74 and offshore oil
producer CNOOC Ltd (0883.HK) leapt 3.5 percent to HK$12.38.

Coal stocks also put on gains on news that mainland utilities
would pay more for thermal coal in 2008 [ID:nPEK169324,
ID:nHKG330666].

China Coal (1898.HK) raced up 3.4 percent to HK$22.70 and
Yanzhou Coal (1171.HK) leapt 3.1 percent to HK$14.52.

Hidili Industry International Development (1393.HK), China's
coking coal miner, advanced 5.8 percent to HK$11.64.

Among mainland real estate developers, China Resources Land
(1109.HK) shot up 9.1 percent to HK$16.06. China Properties
(1838.HK) gained 9.1 percent to HK$4.46. The company had
repurchased its shares in the market, according to the Hong Kong
stock exchange.

China Mengniu Dairy (2319.HK) dropped 1.3 percent to HK$25.9
after saying its Chinese dairy joint venture with Danone
(DANO.PA) was called off, with the French food group saying the
venture was advancing slower than anticipated [ID:nL18520380].

China COSCO (1919.HK) rose 3 percent to HK$22.15. The
container shipper said regulators had approved its plan to issue
864.27 million A shares to its parent China Ocean Shipping for
the acquisition of assets from the latter.

The city's flagship carrier Cathay Pacific Airways (0293.HK)
dropped 1.2 percent to HK$19.68 on worries of a possible strike
by the cabin crew during the critical holiday season.

Hong Kong Electric advanced a further 3.4 percent to HK$43.55
on expectations of a tariff hike to be announced Friday.
(US$1=HK$7.8)
(Editing by Anne Marie Roantree)