HONG KONG, May 6 (Reuters) - Hong Kong shares are expected to
stay subdued on Wednesday amid caution ahead of the release of
U.S. bank stress test results and a likely foreign investor share
sale in a large Chinese bank.
Chinese banks stocks may extend Tuesday's losses on
expectations of a selldown in China Construction Bank (0939.HK)
H-shares as the lock-in on 13.5 billion shares owned by Bank of
America (BAC.N) expires on May 7.
Investors largely expect the U.S. lender to cash out after
recent reports said the bank was working on plans to raise more
than $10 billion in capital to bolster its balance sheet.
Construction Bank (0939.HK) (601939.SS) shares fell 1.5
percent in Hong Kong on Tuesday.
The benchmark Hang Seng Index .HSI finished 0.3 percent
firmer, at a six-and-a-half-month closing high of 16,430.08,
in a fourth session of gains on Tuesday as investors continued to
buy into hopes for a global economic recovery.
STOCKS TO WATCH
* Automobile stocks will be watched after major Chinese
vehicle group Chongqing Changan Auto Co (000625.SZ) on Wednesday
said its April sales jumped 51 percent from a year earlier.
Changan Auto, a Chinese partner of Ford Motor (F.N), sold
117,846 vehicles in April. It produced 117,729 vehicles in the
month, up 23 percent from a year earlier, according to a company
filing to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.
Jiangling Motors Corp Ltd (000550.SZ)(200550.SZ), a
manufacturer of minivans and light trucks, said its April sales
edged up 0.5 percent from a year earlier to 10,140 vehicles.
Jiangling Motors' output in April, however, fell 17 percent
on the year to 10,469 vehicles, the company said in an exchange
filing.
* Alibaba (1688.HK), China's largest e-commerce company, on
Tuesday said it would raise the fee its international members pay
five-fold on June 15, in return for an upgraded package of
services.
The announcement comes after China's e-commerce giant posted
a fourth-quarter net profit decline of 35.4 percent from the
preceding quarter, and warned that profit margins would shrink
further in 2009.
* China's top banking regulator urged banks to hone their
"lending rhythm" in confronting the financial crisis as a
long-term challenge, the China Securities Journal reported on
Wednesday.
The comments by Liu Mingkang, chairman of the China Banking
Regulatory Commission, followed reports that Chinese banks may
have issued about 600 billion yuan ($88 billion) in new loans in
April, a marked decline from a record monthly high of 1.89
trillion yuan in March.
Beijing pressed for more bank lending in support of its
stimulus package announced late last year, but an unprecedented
loan surge in the first quarter has raised concerns that the flow
of credit through the economy will be highly uneven this year.
---------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 2234 GMT ------------
INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG
S&P 500 .SPX 903.8 -0.38% -3.440
USD/JPY JPY= 98.92 -0.01% -0.010
10-YR US TSY YLD US10YT=RR 3.1611 -- 0.000
SPOT GOLD XAU= 895.4 -0.86% -7.800
US CRUDE CLc1 54.11 0.50% 0.280
DOW JONES .DJI 8410.65 -0.19% -16.09
ASIA ADRS .BKAS 106.95 -1.00% -1.08
-------------------------------------------------------------
MARKETS SUMMARY
*Wall St dips on profit-taking as bank tests loom [nN05504499]
*Oil slips from 2009 high, weak demand weighs [nSP351504]
*Dollar rebounds from 1-month low as stocks retreat[nN05507938]
*Treasury bonds erase losses as stocks weaken [nN05498915]
(Reporting by Parvathy Ullatil; Editing by Chris Lewis)
