* China stocks up 0.2 percent at one-month closing high
* Tyremakers up after seeing limited impact on U.S. duties
* HK shares slide; Alibaba down 11 pct after share sale
(Update to close)
By Claire Zhang and Donny Kwok
HONG KONG, Sept 15 (Reuters) - Hong Kong shares slid 0.31
percent on Tuesday afternoon after a severe tropical storm
forestalled the morning session, with shares in Alibaba.com
(1688.HK) leading the fall despite stronger China stocks and
overseas markets.
Alibaba.com, the most heavily traded stock, lost 11.1 percent
to HK$18.80 after Yahoo! Inc (YHOO.O) sold its 1 percent direct
holding in the e-commerce company [ID:nN14479570].
Yahoo said the sale was driven by a big rise in the stake's
value, with Alibaba's share price nearly quadrupling this year.
Top developer Sun Hung Kai Properties (0016.HK) fell 0.88
percent to HK$112 ahead of the release of yearly earnings. The
developer reported a yearly underlying profit of HK$12.42 billion
after market closed, beating a consensus forecast of HK$12.1
billion. [ID:nHKF080412]
Mainland stocks held above key resistance at 3,000 points,
giving hope for further upside potential, brokers said.
"The underlying tone in the market is still firm but
investors took to the sidelines for fresh incentives before they
bet on further gains," said Patrick Yiu, a director of CASH Asset
Management. "Liquidity was seen drying up a bit because of IPOs."
Glorious Property plans to raise $1.5 billion in an IPO,
while Wynn Macau aims to raise $1 billion. Sinopharm aims to
raise $1.13 billion, and Metallurgical Corp of China has
targetted up to $5.3 billion in a dual Hong Kong and Shanghai
listing.
Hong Kong's financial markets were closed on Tuesday morning
as typhoon Koppu swept throughthe city, closing schools, shutting
down most businesses and injuring at least 28 people as it headed
on towards China, the Hong Kong government said. [ID:nHKG193790]
The benchmark Hang Seng Index .HSI closed down 65.83 points
at 20,866.37. The China Enterprises Index .HSCE, which
represents top locally listed mainland Chinese stocks, edged down
0.01 percent to 12,156.07.
China's key stock index the Shanghai Composite Index .SSEC
gained 0.23 percent to end at 3033.728, a new one-month closing
high.
Turnover was HK$31 billion (US$4 billion) for the afteroon
trade against HK$50.9 billion for the whole of Monday.
CHINA MARKETS UP ON IMPROVED DATA
China's key stock index ended up 0.2 percent on Tuesday
supported by improved August FDI data, while tyremakers jumped
after saying the impact of the U.S. decision to impose special
duties on Chinese tyre exports would be limited.
Gaining Shanghai A shares outnumbered losers by 598 to 310,
while turnover edged up to 160 billion yuan ($23.4 billion) from
157 billion yuan on Monday.
China's upbeat August economic date could continue to buoy
the uptrend in the index, dealers said.
China drew $55.86 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI)
in the first eight months of the year, 17.5 percent less than in
the same period in 2008, but an improvement compared with a 20.3
percent fall in the first seven months, the Commerce Ministry
said on Tuesday. [ID:nBJB000666]
"After breaching the 3,000-point resistance level yesterday,
the index flirted with this level. The market's strength remains
unchanged, so the index may manage a mild rise," said Chen
Jinren, senior analyst at Huatai Securities in Nanjing.
Five tyremakers listed on mainland stock exchanges said in
statements that the impact of the U.S. decision to impose special
duties would be limited. GITI Tyre (600182.SS) said the impact
would be difficult to assess at this point, the official Shanghai
Securities News reported.
GITI Tyre gained 0.8 percent to 7.18 yuan, while Double Coin
(600623.SS) jumped by its 10 percent daily limit to 20.91 yuan
after plunging by 10 percent on Monday.
The official People's Daily cited Zhong Shan, China's
vice-minister of Commerce, as saying the government would help
domestic companies cope with special duties that would be imposed
by the United States on Chinese tires.
Shandong Minhe Animal Husbandry 002234.SZ raced up by its
second 10 percent daily limit in the heaviest trade since listing
since 2008.
Investors speculated that China's Commerce Ministry said on
Sunday that it had launched an anti-dumping investigation into
imports of U.S. chicken products and vehicles in an apparent
retaliation. [ID:nLD514738]
Analysts said the index faced its next key resistance at its
60-day moving average, now 3,082 points.
"The index faces resistance so investors are wary, but policy
support could limit its downside. Generally the index may perform
well," said Chen Shaodan, senior analyst at Stockfly Securities
in Beijing.
A senior executive of Malaysia's second-largest fund manager
said late on Monday that China's surging shares had led
CIMB-Principal Asset Management to pare exposure to the booming
market and some of its sectors such as cars, but it favoured
utilities and banks. [ID:nKLR519195]
"We are now less invested in China because the market has
gone up so much, but the longer-term story remains," said Raymond
Tang, who helps oversee assets worth $5.9 billion as
CIMB-Principal's chief investment officer.
(Editing by Chris Lewis)
