HK stocks seen in range bound, techs could rise

HONG KONG, April 18 (Reuters) - Hong Kong stocks are expected
to move within a narrow range on Friday, but investors will
monitor mainland shares after Wall Street provided little
direction with a mixed bag of earnings.

Fears of high inflation and the possibility of an economic
slowdown later this year pushed China's main stock index .SSEC
down 2.1 percent on Thursday.

"Investors are keeping an eye on Shanghai stocks and if they
continue to fall, it will put pressure on Hong Kong listed
mainland stocks," said Alex Tang, research director at Core
Pacific-Yamaichi International (HK) Ltd.

But Hong Kong-listed technology stocks could rise following
the strong showing by U.S. technology bellwether IBM (IBM.N),
which raised its 2008 outlook.

The world's largest brokerage, Merrill Lynch MER.N, which
reported its third straight quarterly loss on Thursday, rose
overnight on hopes that it was closer to seeing improvement,
after reporting writedowns of $6.5 billion.

"The credit crunch seems to be eased, but people are still
worry about a slowing U.S. economy, and Hong Kong's unemployment
rate rose slightly, which may indicate a slower growth in the
second half," Tang said.

Hong Kong's jobless rate in January-March unexpectedly edged
up to 3.4 percent, as hiring slowed sharply. For unemployment
story please read [ID:nSHA182266]

The benchmark Hang Seng Index .HSI gained 1.59 percent to
end at 24,258.96 on Thursday. The China Enterprises Index of Hong
Kong-listed companies .HSCE, or H shares, finished up 2.3
percent.

STOCKS TO WATCH:

* Husky Energy Inc (HSE.TO), majority controlled by Hong Kong
billionaire Li Ka-shing, said on Thursday it has agreed to sell a
half interest in an Indonesian natural gas field to China
National Offshore Oil Corp (0883.HK) (CNOOC) for $125 million in
order to speed its development. [ID:nN17216024]

* Top Chinese electronics chain GOME Electrical Appliances
Holding Ltd (0493.HK) lagged forecasts with a 45 percent rise in
quarterly earnings despite strong sales and improved margins, but
said on Thursday it planned to expand its store network by almost
one-quarter this year. [ID:nHKG285876]

* PCCW (0008.HK) said a proposed privatisation of Pacific
Century Premium Developments (PCPD) (0432.HK) would not proceed
as the scheme failed to obtain requiste majority shareholders'
approval at a Court Meeting. PCCW is not allowed to make another
offer for PCPD within the next 12 months. Trading in PCPD shares
will resume on Friday. For details please see
here

* Maanshan Iron & Steel (0323.HK), which posted a 3.01
percent rise in 2007 profit to 2.47 billion yuan, said an
adjustment in income tax rate for 2007 to 33 percent had no
material impact on its net profit last year, thanks to the
concessionary tax policy obtained by the company. For full
statement please see
here

* Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China (2318.HK) said
premium incomes of subsidiaries Ping An Life Insurance Company of
China, Ping An Property & Casualty Insurance Company of China,
Ping An Health Insurance Company of China, and Ping An Annuity
Insurance Company of China for the first quarter of 2008 amounted
to 27.67 billion yuan, 7.52 billion yuan, 4.19 million yuan and
543.17 million yuan respectively.

* Container ship operator Orient Overseas (International) Ltd
(0316.HK) said its total volumes for the first quarter of 2008
rose 11.7 percent, revenues climbed 27.9 percent to US$1.387
billion. Overall average revenue per teu increased by 14.5
percent compared with a year ago period. For details please see
here

* Fooear retailer Belle International Holdings (1880.HK) said
its major shareholders planned to sell 710.755 million shares at
HK$7.70 each, or 6.1 percent discount to the closing price on
April 17. For details please see
here

* Three firms, including top Chinese coal miner Shenhua
Energy Corp (1088.HK) and ladies' footwear chain Belle (1880.HK),
plan to initiate $830 million in share sales in coming weeks,
shrugging off a market downturn that has scared off firms from
capital-raising. [ID:nHKG274402]

FACTORS TO WATCH:
* Nikkei up 0.2 pct as Toyota, autos gain on a softer yen [.T]
* U.S. stocks flat on mixed earnings bag, Google up late [.N]
* STOCKS NEWS ASIA-Shares seen pausing [STXNEWS/AS]
* Oil eases from record over $115 [O/R]
* Dollar gains as pessimism eases in wake of earnings [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)

Sinopec Corp (SNP.N)(0387.HK) +2.21

Huaneng Power (HNP.N)(0902.HK) +0.34

China Telecom (CHA.N)(0728.HK) +0.14

China Southern Air (ZNH.N)(1055.HK) -4.29

SEMIC Manfc Intl (SMI.N)(0981.HK) -3.52

China Eastern Air (CEA.N)(0670.HK) -3.47

Yanzhou Coal (YZC.N)(1171.HK) -2.38

CNOOC Ltd (CEO.N)(0883.HK) -0.95

(US$1=HK$7.8)
(Reporting by Alison Leung; editing by Ken Wills)