HK stocks seen range-bound; energy, resources eyed
HONG KONG, May 20 (Reuters) - Hong Kong stocks are expected to hold steady on Tuesday, with investors continuing to focus on energy and raw material counters amid high prices.
"Overseas markets are a bit mixed and the Hang Seng index is likely to move within between 25,500 and 25,900 points," said Patrick Yiu, an associate director at CASH Asset Management.
Oil, gold and coal counters should rise further on strong prices but these stocks should become more volatile after the recent rally, he added.
Citigroup late on Monday upgraded China's top cement maker,
Anhui Conch (0914.HK), to buy from sell, saying its new projects
and planned new A-share issue bodes well for profitability.
Anhui Conch said it planned to speed up capacity expansion in western China. [ID:nHKG353188]
But the investment bank downgraded China National Building
Material (3323.HK) to sell from hold on profit fears.
[IDnHKG35087]
The benchmark Hang Seng index .HSI rose 0.48 percent to 25,742.23 on Monday. The China Enterprises Index of Hong Kong-listed mainland companies .HSCE, or H shares, gained 1.28 percent at 14,367.70. ----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 2358 GMT ------------
INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG S&P 500 .SPX 1426.63 0.09% 1.280 USD/JPY JPY= 104.43 0.12% 0.130 10-YR US TSY YLD US10YT=RR 3.837 -- 0.004 SPOT GOLD XAU= 902.6 -0.15% -1.350 US CRUDE CLc1 127.25 0.16% 0.200 DOW JONES .DJI 13028.16 0.32% 41.36 ASIA ADRS .BKAS 169.17 -0.01% -0.02 -------------------------------------------------------------
FACTORS TO WATCH: * Nikkei slips as banks sold, trading houses up [.T] * Energy shares boost Dow, S&P 500 in light volume [.N] * Asian energy shares seen rising, tech firms weak [STXNEWS/AS] * Oil rises past $127, OPEC says no need for hike [O/R] * Dollar rebounds as economic slump seen near bottom [USD/] * For upcoming Hong Kong events, click on [HK/DIARY] * For Hong Kong press digest, click on [PRESS/HK]
STOCKS TO WATCH:
* Shui On Land (0272.HK) said it would sell 25 percent of a Shanghai integrated residential development project for 1.125 billion yuan with an option to sell another 24 percent of the project for 1.134 billion yuan. For details please see here
# Asia Cement (China) Holdings Corp (0743.HK) said its Sichuan Yadong Plant had resumed operations on May 19 and it did not expect any material impact on its business operation and financial performance due to the earthquake and the associated aftershocks. For details please see here
* Jinhui Holdings Co Ltd (0137.HK) said it would pay HK$379.5 million for the construction of a bulk carrier with deadweight 59,760 metric tonnes in Japan. Sumitomo Corporation is the contractor of the vessel. For details please see here
* Shenzhen Expressway (0548.HK) said the average daily toll revenue from its Meiguan Expressway fell 16.4 percent year-on-year in April while toll revenue from Jihe West rose 6.2 percent, Yanpai Expressway jumped 21.1 percent, and Yanba Expressway up 9.4 percent. For details please see here
* Ping An Insurance (Group) (2318.HK) said premium incomes of Ping An Life Insurance Company of China, and Ping An Property & Casualty Insurance Company of China for the first four months of 2008 were 35.1 billion yuan and 9.9 billion yuan respectively. For details please see here
* China Unicom (0762.HK) said its aggregated number of GSM cellular service subscribers increased to 125.434 million in April from 124.225 million in March, while the aggregated number of CDMA service subscribers rose to 43.098 million in April from 42.809 million in March. For details please see here
* China Life (2628.HK) said unaudited accumulated premiums income for the period from January 1 to April 30 amounted to about 128 billion yuan. For details please see here
* Ming An (Holdings) Co (1389.HK) said unaudited accumulated gross insurance premium income of its unit, The Ming AnInsurance Company (China), for the first four months of 2008 amounted to 254.60 million yuan. For details please see here (Reporting by Alison Leung; )
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