HK stocks seen down before Fed, banks in focus

HONG KONG, April 30 (Reuters) - Hong Kong stocks are expected
to fall on Wednesday, a day after hitting a three-month closing
high, as investors anxiously await a Federal Reserve
interest-rate decision and U.S. gross domestic product data.

But the financial sector is expected to buck the broad
market trend after a slew of strong earnings from heavyweights,
including ICBC (1398.HK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and China's Bank of Communications
(3328.HK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

"The market will take a breather today after trying to test
the 26,000 level during yesterday's rally, which was mostly due
to the expiration of futures contracts," said Louis Wong,
research director at Phillip Securities, adding that results from
China's financial sector would not lift the entire market.

"The results could help lift that sector, but ICBC had
issued profit forecasts, so the news is already priced in."

On Tuesday, the benchmark Hang Seng Index .HSI rose 0.97
percent to a three-month closing high of 25,914.15.

The China Enterprises Index of Hong Kong-listed mainland
companies .HSCE, or H shares, rose 0.71 percent to 14,297.83.

STOCKS TO WATCH:

* Industrial and Commercial Bank of China
(1398.HK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)(601398.SS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the world's biggest bank by market value,
posted a 77 percent jump in first-quarter profit on Tuesday,
boosted by widening interest margins and fee income growth.

The lender said the face value of its U.S. subprime
mortgage-backed securities was $1.2 billion at the end of March,
and it booked an additional impairment provision of $48 million
on top of the $400 million in provisions made in
2007.[ID:nHKF079135]

* China CITIC Bank (0998.HK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) (601998.SS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the country's
seventh-largest lender, posted a net profit of 4.197 billion yuan
($600.9 million) in the first quarter of 2008, based on
international accounting standards.

No comparative figure was available for 2007's first quarter,
but the result represented a 37.6 percent rise from the
company's fourth-quarter earnings, based on Reuters calculations.
[ID:nHKG26001]

* China's Ping An Insurance (2318.HK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) (601318.SS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) on Tuesday
reported a 24 percent rise in first-quarter profits, as premium
growth and income from its banking operations offset a slowdown
in investment income.

Ping An, the country's second-largest insurer, posted first
quarter earnings of 7.1 billion yuan ($1.02 billion), compared to
5.7 billion yuan in net profit in the year-ago period.
[ID:nHKF079140]

* China's biggest contract chipmaker, Semiconductor
Manufacturing International Corp (0981.HK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), posted a
bigger-than-expected net loss in the first quarter as the
contract chip sector headed into a downturn and memory prices
plummeted.

The quarter loss included a $44 million provision taken
against its DRAM inventories, SMIC said in a statement on
Tuesday, and could deepen further if the company books a loss on
the loss-making commodity dynamic random access memory (DRAM)
business that it plans to exit. [ID:nHKG367869]

* China's Bank of Communications (3328.HK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the country's
fifth-largest lender, reported a doubling in first-quarter
profit, boosted by lower tax charges and strong growth in
interest income and fees.

Bank of Communications (601328.SS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), which is about 19 percent
owned by HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)(0005.HK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), earned 7.9 billion
yuan ($1.13 billion) in the first quarter, compared with 3.8
billion yuan in the year-ago period.[ID:nHKF079134]

FACTORS TO WATCH:
* Nikkei .N225 creeps down, watching Fed and indicators [.T]
* U.S. stocks--Market wavers as drugs weigh; Citi down late [.N]
* STOCKS NEWS ASIA-Market factors, main events [STXNEWS/ASIA]
* Oil slumps on dollar, easing supply fears [O/R]
* Dollar rises on Fed pause hopes, weak European data [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)

Huaneng Power (HNP.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)(0902.HK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) +4.4

TomoTherapy (TOMO.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) +3.7

Yanzhou Coal (YZC.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)(1171.HK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) +2.1

China Unicom (CHU.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)(0762.HK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) +1.7

PetroChina (PTR.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)(0857.HK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) +0.95
(US$1=HK$7.8)
(Reporting by Jospeh Chaney; editing by Anne Marie Roantree)