HK shares seen hovering; Chalco eyed on record prices

HONG KONG, July 11 (Reuters) - Hong Kong shares are seen drifting sideways on Friday, with gains on Wall Street overnight overshadowed by weakness in regional markets and higher oil prices.

U.S. stocks rose on Thursday, helped by Dow Chemical's $15.3 billion bid for Rohm and Haas ROH.N and after the Federal Reserve chairman said the central bank and the government were focused on stabilising the financial system.

On Thursday, U.S. crude snapped back from three days of losses to return above $141 a barrel, pulling gold in its wake, on heightened geopolitical tensions and their perceived impact on commodity supplies.

"The major factors affecting investor sentiment, including high oil prices and uncertainity in the financial sector, remain the same. And Wall Street's seesawing does not help either," said Ben Kwong, COO with KGI Asia.

"The Hang Seng Index should hover around 22,000, with a limited upside today."

Hong Kong shares closed little changed on Thursday at 21,821.78, as losses in blue chips such as China Mobile (0941.HK) and HSBC Holdings (0005.HK) offset gains in Chinese lenders.

SROCKS TO WATCH-

* Aluminum Corp of China (2600.HK) will be in focus after alumimium prices jumped to a record high on Thursday on news that China's top 20 aluminium producers would cut output by up to 10 percent as they struggle with power supply shortages and higher costs. [ID:nSP157888]

* China Construction Bank (601939.SS)(0939.HK) joined three other mainland lenders in issuing positive earnings estimates for the first half.

China's second-largest bank estimated on Thursday that net profit rose at least 50 percent in the first six months, helped by gains in net interest income and fee income, as well as a change in corporate tax rates. [ID:nSHA123984]

* China's Sinoma International (600970.SS), a subsidiary of China National Materials Co Ltd (1893.HK), has won $1.45 billion in contracts to build cement plants for Nigeria's Dangote group, the company said.

Sinoma will build six cement production lines in Tanzania, Congo, Ethiopia, Zambia, and Equatorial Guinea, the statement said. For more details, see here. and [ID:nSP322871] ----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 23:58 GMT ---------------

INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG S&P 500 .SPX 1,253.39 0.7% 8.700 USD/JPY JPY= 107.04 -0.02% -0.020 10-YR US TSY YLD US10YT=RR 3.807 -- 0.008 SPOT GOLD XAU= $943.60 -0.30% -2.800 US CRUDE CLc1 $141.71 0.04% 0.060 DOW JONES .DJI 11229.02 0.73% 81.58 ASIA ADRS .BKAS 146.02 1.59% 2.29 ----------------------------------------------------------------> > SE Asian Stocks-Lower on fears of deeper credit losses [.SO] > Relentless credit jitters hurt dollar vs euro [USD/] > TREASURIES-Bonds fall as stocks gains curb safety bid [US/] > Gold gains on firm oil, chart resistance break [GOL/] > Oil surges past $141 on Iran tensions, Nigeria [O/R] > US STOCKS-Market rises on Dow Chemical deal, Bernanke [.N] (Reporting by Parvathy Ullatil; Editing by Anne Marie Roantree)