HK shares seen higher for 4th day on US data

HONG KONG, June 2 (Reuters) - Hong Kong shares are expected
to extend their rally into a fourth straight session on Tuesday
on the back of reassuring manufacturing sector data from the U.S.

The U.S. manufacturing sector showed improvement in May,
contracting at a slower rate for the fifth straight month,
according to a report on Monday [ID:nN0125924]

Also seen helping is Wall Street's calm acceptance of General
Motors' (GM.N) bankruptcy filing on Monday, forcing the
100-year-old carmaker, once seen as a symbol of American economic
might and dynamism, into a new and uncertain era of government
ownership. [ID:nN01398575]

But analysts see the main index facing strong resistance at
19,200-19,400 points after adding on nearly a third of its value
so far this year.

The guage rose 17 percent in May, its biggest single-month
advance in a decade, and is currently trading at nearly 17 times
the estimated earnings of its constituents in 2009.

On Monday, the benchmark Hang Seng Index .HSI tacked on
nearly 4 percent to finish at 18,888.59, its highest level since
September 2008.

STOCKS TO WATCH

* BOC Hong Kong (2388.HK) on Monday said it had appointed
Zhuo Chengwen, who was a deputy manager of Bank of China Ltd, as
chief financial officer with effect from June 1, replacing
Raymond Lee who retired as executive director and CFO. The bank
also named Alex Lee, who was managing director of Citigroup in
Hong Kong, as chief operating officer with effect from July 2.

* Parkson Retail (3368.HK) on Monday said its 53.58 percent
controlling shareholder Parkson Holdings Berhad would sell up to
55 million existing shares of the company at HK$11.71 each. UBS
Securities Asia is handling the deal. For statement please click
here

* Air China Ltd (0753.HK) on Monday said major shareholders
of its 51 percent owned Air Macau Co Ltd approved a plan to
inject about HK$492.5 million for the financial recovery of Air
Macau. For statement please click
here

* APT Satellite (1045.HK) said it would refund US$69.5
million to Telesat Canada on the termination and cancellation of
a lease agreement and ancillary satellite service agreement in
respect of APSTAR-IIR/Telstar 10. Trading in its shares will
resume on Tuesday. For statement please click
here

* Road King Infrastructure (1098.HK) said it would sell all
of its 45 percent stake in the eastern section of Jihe Expressway
to Shenzhen Expressway Co (0548.HK) (600548.SS) for 1.07 billion
yuan ($156.7 million). Shenzhen Expressway already owns 55
percent of the expressway. For statement please click
here

* Oriental Press Group (0018.HK) said its controlling
shareholder would make a general cash offer of HK$0.95 per share
for all outstanding shares it did not already own for about
HK$878.1 million, in a bid to take the company private due to low
liquidity of the traded shares. The cash offer represents a 15.9
percent premium over the last closing price of HK$0.82 on May 22.
Trading in the shares will resume on Tuesday. For statement
please click
here

* Northeast Electric Development (0042.HK) on Tuesday said
its controlling shareholder New Northeast Electric Investment Co
Ltd was not in talks with a third party on the sale of a company
stake and there would not be any stock transfers in the next
three months. The company made the statement in response to
rumours that U.S. investor Warren Buffett would make big
investments in low-price stocks issued by state-owned grid
equipment companies. For statement please click
here
----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 2231 GMT ------------

INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG
S&P 500 .SPX 942.87 2.58% 23.730
USD/JPY JPY= 96.58 0.05% 0.050
10-YR US TSY YLD US10YT=RR 3.6804 -- 0.000
SPOT GOLD XAU= 972 -0.20% -1.950
US CRUDE CLc1 67.92 -0.96% -0.660
DOW JONES .DJI 8721.44 2.60% 221.11
-------------------------------------------------------------
Wall St jumps on recovery bets and GM; AmEx off late [.N]
US dollar falls to '09 low as riks tolerance rises [USD/]
Wall Street rally, reassuring data hurt bonds [US/]
Gold ends down as dlr cuts losses, eyes $1,000 [GOL/]
Oil jumps 3 pct, factor data spurs recovery hope [O/R]

(Reporting by Parvathy Ullatil; Editing by Chris Lewis)