HK shares set for 4th day of losses; China stocks edge up

(Updates to midday)

HONG KONG/SHANGHAI, July 3 (Reuters) - Hong Kong shares bounced off early lows as lower crude oil prices supported gains in top refiner Sinopec, but a bleak U.S. jobs report nudged the market into its fourth straight day of losses on Friday.

While Hong Kong shares are headed for a weekly loss, the Shanghai index looks set for a nearly 5 percent weekly gain with expectations of strong lending growth and a rise in power output in June boosting optimism over an economic recovery.

Defying the slump in the broader Hong Kong market, shampoo maker BaWang International (Group) Holdings (1338.HK) soared more than 30 percent on its debut, after its $214 million IPO ranked among the most popular issues this year with its retail portion subscribed more than 400 times. [ID:nHKG280265]

Another market debutante, China Qinfa (0866.HK) also fared well with shares in the coal trading company rising 7.1 percent by midday.

Here are the index moves and top stock moves in both markets by midday-

HONG KONG

* The benchmark Hang Seng Index .HSI was 0.5 percent lower at 18,094.66, headed for a loss of 2.7 percent in the holiday-shortened week.

* Asia's biggest oil refiner Sinopec Corp (0386.HK) advanced 1.7 percent to HK$5.97 as crude oil fell towards $66 per barrel after the latest U.S. payroll data signalled the world was still grappling with a deep recession.

* The local market managed to outperform the sharp drop on Wall Street overnight.

"The market fell every day this week, so a lot of the negative impact from the employment data seems to have been discounted. The main index will continue to move between 17.500 and 19,000," said Jackson Wong, investment manager with Tanrich Securitis.

* The China Enterprises Index .HSCE, which represents top locally listed mainland Chinese stocks, slipped 0.6 percent to 10,906.85.

* Coal stocks rose on Friday after following a news report that China's power output in June increased 3.6 percent from a year earlier, its first increase since October.

The world's most valuable coal miner China Shenhua (1088.HK) rose 1.4 percent, while Yanzhou Coal (1171.HK) inched up 0.4 percent.

* Casino operator Melco International Development (0200.HK) dropped 5.5 percent to HK$3.94 after Credit Suisse cut its rating on the stock, and on shares of its 34.06 percent owned associate Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd (MPEL.O) to "underperform" from "neutral" following the below-expectations debut of its new casino in Macau.

* Melco Crown's City of Dreams casino in the Chinese gambling notched up a rolling chip turnover of $1.94 billion in its opening month in June, but the casino only won 0.8 percent of those bets compared with an expected win rate of 2.85 percent.