HK shares seen sliding after U.S. stocks plunge
HONG KONG, Nov 21 (Reuters) - Hong Kong shares are expected to fall on Friday after Wall Street's benchmark S&P 500 index dived overnight, erasing more than a decade of gains, while commodity stocks are expected to take a beating as oil fell below $50 a barrel.
"HSBC dropped 3.8 percent in New York yesterday. That's terrible. The stock is in for a pounding in Hong Kong today," said Francis Lun, general manager with Fulbright Securities.
Lun sees the main index giving up at least 500 points on Friday, as investors wait to see whether the U.S. government will agree on a course of action to rescue its car makers.
But the HSI was unlikely to fall below 11,000 to its previous low in Friday's session, he said.
The Hang Seng Index .HSI dropped 4 percent on Thursday as worries over a long-lasting global recession fuelled a flight to cash, but the main index closed above 12,000 points as new lows in some blue chips prompted short covering late in the session.
STOCKS TO WATCH-
* PetroChina (0857.HK) on Thursday said the China Securities Regulatory Commission had approved its plan to issue up to 30 billion yuan worth of medium-term corporate bonds in Shanghai Stock Exchange. For statement please see here
* Sinotruk (Hong Kong) (3808.HK) said it was in preliminary talks with a third party on a possible long-term strategic partnership cooperation which might eventually bring in an important strategic investor. For statement please see here
* Galaxy Entertainment (0027.HK), which posted a slight drop in third quarter revenues to HK$2.46 billion from HK$2.67 billion in second quarter, said development of Galaxy Macau in Cotai continues but the opening date has been delayed to 2010 from mid-2009 amid prevailing market conditions. For statement please see here
* Sun Hung Kai Properties (0016.HK) has no plan to cut its existing 30,000 work force and their bonuses, the South China Morning Post said, citing managing director Thomas Kwok.
* Sino-Ocean Land (3377.HK) said on Thursday its wholly owned unit had successfully bid a tender for a piece of land in Beijing for 1.58 billion yuan, in an effort to expand its portfolio of development projects. For statemetn please see here
* Chinese processed agricultural products producer and supplier China Agri-Industries Holdings Ltd (0606.HK) said on Thursday China Petroleum & Chemical Corp had acquired a 15 percent stake in Guangxi COFCO Biofuel Co., Ltd, in which the Hong Kong-lised company holds 85 percent. It gave no dollar value of the deal.
For statement please see here
* Due to global financial turmoil, Hong Kong Ferry (0050.HK) said it expected to see an unrealised loss of HK$410 million on its investment in equity-linked notes, which it intended to hold to maturity. It said it did not have any exposure to accumulators and had cash of HK$618 million as of Nov 20.
For statement please see here --------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 0004 GMT--------------------
INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG
S&P 500 .SPX 752.44 -6.71% -54.140
USD/JPY JPY= 94.01 0.45% -0.410
10-YR US TSY YLD US10YT=RR 3.0131 -- 0.048
SPOT GOLD XAU= $744.15 0.16% 1.200
US CRUDE CLc1 $48.65 -1.56% -0.670
DOW JONES .DJI 7552.29 -5.56% -444.99
ASIA ADRS .BKAS 74.12 -4.85% -3.78 ------------------------------------------------------------- > US STOCKS-S&P dives to lowest level since 1997 [.N] > FOREX-Dollar sinks vs yen, rises vs euro as stocks swoon [USD/] > TREASURIES-Yields at 50-yr lows on stock rout, economy [US/] > Oil drops 7 percent to 3-1/2-year low below $50 [O/R] > Gold rises on physical buying as stocks tumble [GOL/] (Reporting by Parvathy Ullatil; Editing by Anne Marie Roantree)
