HK stocks seen steady, laggards in focus

HONG KONG, April 9 (Reuters) - Hong Kong stocks are expected
to hold steady on Wednesday, with laggards such as mainland
insurer China Life (2628.HK) and PetroChina (0857.HK) in focus.

"The Hong Kong market will depend on the mainland market's
performance and A shares tend to have stablised with a bit of
upside," said Conita Hung, director of Delta Asia Financial
Group, adding that the resistance level would be 24,500.

The benchmark Hang Seng index .HSI fell 1.09 percent to
24,311.69 on Tuesday.

The China Enterprises Index of Hong Kong-listed mainland
firms .HSCE, or H shares, fell 1.67 percent to 13,196.22.

STOCKS TO WATCH:

* China Mengniu Dairy Co Ltd (2319.HK) said on Wednesday it
would issue HK$2.91 billion (US$373 million) worth of of new
shares to settle its purchase of an additional interest in its
main operating subsidiary Inner Mongolia Mengniu Dairy.
[ID:nHKG170433]

* Norwegian fertiliser group Yara has offered to sell a 1.75
percent stake in China BlueChemical Ltd (3983.HK), China's top
producer of nitrogen ferilisers, and expects a net gain of $22
million. [ID:nL08788331]

* China National Building Material (3323.HK) said it planned
to issue up to 2.5 billion yuan worth of short term debenture in
China during a 12 months period, raising capital for working
capital and to meet its short term financial needs. For details
please see
here

* China Railway Construction Corp Ltd (1186.HK) said it had
issued 181.54 million H shares at an offer price of HK$10.70 each
to cover overallocation of shares in the international offering
during its IPO. For details please see
here

* Anhui Conch Cement (0914.HK) said its application in
connection with an A-share issue had been approved by CSRC. For
details please see
here

* Shell Electric Group Co (2727.HK) said State-owned Assets
Supervision and Administration Commission of the State
Council had approved the firm's proposal to sell a stake in
Shanghai Diesel (600841.SS). For details please see
here

FACTORS TO WATCH:
* Nikkei .N225 rises, Sony and banks edge higher [.T]
* U.S. stocks down as WaMu dents banks, Fed minutes drag [.N]
* STOCKS NEWS ASIA-Market factors, main events [STXNEWS/ASIA]
* Oil slips on dollar, expected US inventory build [O/R]
* Dollar edges lower versus euro on Fed minutes [USD/]
* For upcoming Hong Kong events, click on [HK/DIARY]
* For Hong Kong press digest, click on [PRESS/HK]

KEY HK ADR MOVERS (by % change)

TomoTherapy (TOMO.O) +0.6

China Unicom (CHU.N)(0762.HK) -0.4

Hutchison Telecom (HTX.N)(2332.HK) -0.8

HSBC Holdings (HBC.N)(0005.HK) -0.9

CNOOC Ltd (CEO.N)(0883.HK) -1.0
(US$1=HK$7.8)
(Reporting by Judy Hua; Editing by Anne Marie Roantree)