HK stocks seen higher, focus on property, materials

HONG KONG, May 19 (Reuters) - Hong Kong stocks are expected
to rise on Monday, tracking firmer regional markets, with
building and raw materials counters in focus on expectations of
strong demand for reconstruction efforts after China's deadly
earthquake.

"Local property stocks are also likely to attract buyers as
Hong Kong's economic growth remains strong and the results of
home sales during the weekend were positive," said Francis Lun,
general manager at Fulbright Securities.

Hong Kong's GDP rose 7.1 percent in the first quarter from a
year earlier, topping forecasts for a 6.1 percent increase.
[ID:nSP312824]

Lun expected the blue chip Hang Seng index to rise between
200 and 300 points on Monday and to test 26,000 points later this
week.

The benchmark Hang Seng index .HSI rose 0.41 percent to
25,618.86 on Friday. The China Enterprises Index of Hong
Kong-listed mainland companies .HSCE, or H shares, gained 1.13
percent to 14,185.98.
----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 0000 GMT ------------

INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG
S&P 500 .SPX 1425.35 0.13% 1.780
USD/JPY JPY= 104.11 0.15% 0.160
10-YR US TSY YLD US10YT=RR 3.8673 -- 0.013
SPOT GOLD XAU= 904.9 0.40% 3.600
US CRUDE CLc1 126.65 0.29% 0.360
DOW JONES .DJI 12986.80 -0.05% -5.86
ASIA ADRS .BKAS 169.19 0.34% 0.58
-------------------------------------------------------------

FACTORS TO WATCH:
* Nikkei average opens up 0.53 pct, boosted by exporters [.T]
* Record oil may hold U.S. stocks hostage [.N]
* U.S. economy, oil worries may hurt Asian shares [STXNEWS/AS]
* Oil hits record, Saudi hike falls to stem rally [O/R]
* Dollar slides on bearish US consumer confidence data [USD/]
* For upcoming Hong Kong events, click on [HK/DIARY]
* For Hong Kong press digest, click on [PRESS/HK]

STOCKS TO WATCH:

* China Power New Energy Development (0735.HK) has raised its
renewable energy capacity targets by a half as Beijing pushes to
clean up its air and water and whittle down its reliance on
imported resources, a senior executive said. [ID:nHKG302818]

* Hongkong Chinese (0655.HK) said it planned to raise HK$471
million through the issue of 471.4 million rights shares, raising
capital to fund real estate projects. For details please see
here

* CITIC Pacific (0267.HK) said it would set up a joint
venture, with total investment amounting to US$29.8 million, for
development and production of alloy and metal hardware for
construction, instrument and daily use. For details please see
here

* PICC Property and Casualty Co Ltd (2328.HK) said its direct
premiums income for the first four months of 2008 amounted to
38.69 billion yuan. For details please see
here

* Cheung Kong Infrastructure (1038.HK) said it would sell 50
percent of Wellington Network to Hongkong Electric Holdings
(0006.HK) on completion in July of its purchase of the electricty
distribution network from Vector Ltd for NZ$785 million. For
details please see
here

* Wing Lung Bank 0096.HK, which is awaiting final bids in a
takeover battle, said late on Friday its net interest income for
the first quarter of 2008 fell 1.4 percent to HK$360.1 million
($46.2 million) from a year ago. [ID:nHKG340272]
(Reporting by Alison Leung; Editing by Anne Marie Roantree)