HONG KONG, April 2 (Reuters) - Hong Kong shares are set to
start higher on Thursday after encouraging factory and homes
sales data from the United States sparked optimism about the
world's largest economy and broad gains on Wall Street.
On Thursday, Hong Kong is likely to report retail sales in
February dropped 1 percent by value from a year earlier, its
first decline in two years, hit by a weak economy and the
seasonal impact of the Lunar New Year which fell in January this
year.[ID:nHKG191936]
Investors have been looking for further cues on the health of
the United State, China and local economies and are expected to
turn cautious on Friday ahead of a key U.S. jobs report.
The benchmark Hang Seng Index .HSI closed 0.4 percent lower
on Wednesday at 13,519.54, weighed down by Chinese telecom stocks
as investors fretted about China Unicom's (0762.HK)
bigger-than-expected capital investment plan.
STOCKS TO WATCH -
* Manulife Financial (MFC.TO) (0945.HK) said late on
Wednesday it would issue up to $476 million in medium term notes,
tapping debt markets just weeks after it was downgraded by major
ratings agencies. [ID:nN01488611]. For statement please click
here
* Crocodile Garments (0122.HK) said its major shareholder had
sweetened a privatisation bid to buy all outstanding shares it
did not already own at HK$0.42 apiece from HK$0.40 apiece,
valuing the entire company at HK$259.2 million. Trading in the
shares will resume on Thursday. For statement please see
here
* China Oilfield Services (2883.HK) has reduced its budgeted
spending in 2009 on projects to bolster capacity by 19.3 percent
to 10.4 billion yuan, according to the South China Morning Post.
The cost cuts come amid a sharp drop in service prices due to
weak demand, the newspaper said quoting China Oilfield's chief
financial officer Zhong Shu.
* Morgan Stanley offered to sell 203.8 million shares in
mainland sportswear supplier China Dongxiang (3818.HK) at
HK$2.70-2.80 each to institutional investors for up to HK$570
million, said the South China Morning Post sale document obtained
by fund managers.
The sale is priced at a slight discount to China Dongxiang's
Wednesday's closing price of HK$2.94.
----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 2254 GMT ------------
INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG
S&P 500 .SPX 811.08 1.66% 13.210
USD/JPY JPY= 98.66 0.03% 0.030
10-YR US TSY YLD US10YT=RR 2.6521 -- 0.002
SPOT GOLD XAU= 926.5 0.01% 0.100
US CRUDE CLc1 48.66 0.56% 0.270
DOW JONES .DJI 7761.60 2.01% 152.68
ASIA ADRS .BKAS 91.77 4.09% 3.61
-------------------------------------------------------------
MARKET SUMMARY
*Wall St rallies on manufacturing, homes data [ID:nN01489894]
*Oil falls over $1 as U.S. inventories rise [ID:nSP451675]
*Dollar edges up vs euro; ECB, G20 in focus [ID:nN01514072]
*Long Treasury bonds rise on Fed's purchase plans [ID:nN01591554]
(Reporting by Parvathy Ullatil; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
