HK Hot Stocks - Resources fall, Alibaba soars
HONG KONG, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng Index .HSI had dropped 1.8 percent to 13,788.93 by 0230 GMT.
The China Enterprise Index .HSCE of top locally listed mainland Chinese companies was down 2.1 percent at 6,986.89.
Here are some of the stocks on the move:
* Resources stocks extended losses as the price of oil and other commodities tumbled, and after aluminium maker Alcoa (AA.N) announced production cuts due to faltering global demand.
Alumina producer Chalco (2600.HK) fell 2.7 percent, coal producer China Shenhua Enery (1088.HK) lost 4.1 percent, while steel maker Angang Steel (0347.HK) slid 1.8 percent.
Offshore oil producer CNOOC (0883.HK) shed 4.6 percent after crude oil prices settled below $60 a barrel for the first time in 20 months in New York trading and stayed at that level in Asian trade on Wednesday.
* Alibaba.com (1688.HK) surged 17 percent. The company on Tuesday reported a 49 percent jump in its third-quarter earnings and said it planned to buy up to HK$2 billion of its own shares.
* Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (0388.HK) fell 3.6 percent ahead of its quarterly results due later in the day.
* China Merchants Holdings (0144.HK) lost 4.4 percent after JP Morgan cut its target price on the company to HK$16.50 from HK$24.00 and its earnings forecast by 24 percent for 2009.
* Insulator maker Vitar International (0195.HK) rose 6.7 percent on its trading debut. The company issued 28 million new shares at HK$2.1 each, raising HK$58.8 million ($7.5 million).
* Europe's biggest bank HSBC (HSBA.L)(0005.HK) extended losses and fell 2.8 percent. The bank said on Monday that it took a $4.3 billion hit for bad debts in its U.S. personal finance arm -- up $700 million from the previous quarter. [ID:nLA296008]
(Reporting by Jun Ebias; Editing by Anne Marie Roantree)
