PRESS DIGEST - Hong Kong - July 9
HONG KONG, July 9 (Reuters) - These are some of the leading stories in Hong Kong newspapers on Wednesday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
HONG KONG ECONOMIC TIMES
-- Many homebuyers are returning to the rental market amid uncertainties. There were more rental transactions than purchases in June, according to real estate agency Ricacorp. The ratio is expected to return to the normal level at 60 percent purchases in September.
-- Consumer confidence in Hong Kong dropped to the lowest level in June since the SARS outbreak in 2003, according to a CUHK study.
APPLE DAILY
-- The popularity of Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang has continued to drop, according to a HKU survey, despite his efforts to gain support. The slide followed his government's appointment of high-paying bureau deputies and assistants to the civil service.
-- Investment group Morgan Stanley has been highly accurate predicting stock performance in its recent short-term strategic reports. The reports are right six out of seven times so far and HKEx (0388.HK), which it said would fall below the HK$100 mark within 15 trading days, has now dropped 18 percent to HK$101 in 11 trading days since the release of the report.
SING TAO DAILY
-- Hong Kong should join hands with London to develop carbon trading, Lord Mayor David Lewis said in the territory. He said Hong Kong had the regulatory framework while London had the relevant product experts.
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
-- Misplaced fears over Beijing's tightening monetary policy and concerns over the slowing economy have caused an "irrational sell-off" of mainland banking stocks, according to a report by JP Morgan.
THE STANDARD
-- Mainland yuan bond issuers have seen their quotas slashed from about 25 billion yuan to just 15 billion yuan, according to sources. Bank of Communications (3328.HK) will be the first to issue paper, but having originally applied for a five billion yuan quota it has been awarded only three billion yuan by the State Council, according to a magazine report.
-- The Asian Development Bank has created a second fund to finance projects aimed at cutting emissions of gases blamed for global warming in the next three decades.
WEN WEI PO
-- Hang Seng Bank (0011.HK) says Hong Kong's consumer price index will go higher and it has revised its prediction for 2008 from 3.5 percent to 5 percent.
-- About 300,000 homeowners in Shenzhen, including many from Hong Kong, are in negative equity given the sharp falls in property values there.
TA KUNG PAO
-- Hong Kong International Airport ranked second in the list of world's busiest cargo airports, with the annual cargo volume at 3.77 million tonnes -- just 7 tonnes short of Memphis airport.
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