HONG KONG, March 20 (Reuters) - Hong Kong stocks are expected
to fall on Thursday, as losses on Wall Street may deflate
confidence and investors react to a slew of earnings reported
after last session's close.
PetroChina Co Ltd (0857.HK), the world's most valuable
energy producer, may slide after posting a tepid 3.7 percent rise
in second-half earnings. It blamed refining losses and $6 billion
in special taxes for its showing and said it would speed up
overseas exploration in 2008 [ID:nHKG270338].
"PetroChina was disappointing," said Conita Hung, head of
equity markets at Delta Asia Financial Group.
"We expected high oil prices to benefit PetroChina."
As for the broad market, Hung said Hong Kong would follow the
U.S. market and may drop up to 800 points to test the 21,000
level.
The benchmark Hang Seng Index .HSI on Wednesday closed up
2.3 percent to end at 21,866.94.
The China Enterprises index of H shares .HSCE, or Hong
Kong-listed shares in mainland companies, gained 3.3 percent to
11,438.75.
STOCKS TO WATCH:
* Top Asian oil refiner Sinopec Corp (0386.HK) (600028.SS)
has won a $1.7 billion government bailout to compensate for
refining losses incurred during 2007 and the first quarter of
2008, when crude oil prices soared to record highs, the firm said
on Wednesday [ID:nHKF079009].
* China's fifth-largest lender, Bank of Communications
(3328.HK), posted a 78 percent increase in quarterly net profit,
beating analysts' estimates, on a surge in fee income, but said
2008 would be a more challenging year [ID:nHKG317039].
* China's Ping An Insurance Co Ltd (2318.HK) deepened its
ties with Belgian-Dutch financial group Fortis on Wednesday by
buying half its asset management business for 2.15 billion euros
($3.4 billion).
China's second-largest life insurer on Wednesday said it
posted a 137 percent jump in second-half profit last year, driven
by contributions from its fledgling banking unit and strong
investment returns [ID:nHKG259104].
Ping An also announced the premium incomes for these units
for the first two months of 2008:
Ping An Life Insurance Company of China, 19.07 billion yuan
Ping An Property & Casualty Ins Co of China, 4.8 billion yuan
Ping An Health Insurance Co of China Ltd, 3.43 million yuan
Ping An Annuity Insurance Co of China, 523.5 million yuan
* Internet services provider Tencent (0700.HK) said its
yearly net profit rose 47.2 percent to 1.57 billion yuan
[ID:nHKF079007].
* Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical (0338.HK) said it received a
one-off compensation of 341.18 million yuan to offset losses from
high oil prices, of which 93.90 million yuan would be recorded as
a subsidy for 2007, and 247.28 million yuan would be recorded as
a subsidy for the first quarter of 2008.
* China Unicom (0762.HK) said its GSM cellular services
subscribers increased to 122.901 million in February from 121.689
million in Janaury, while CDMA cellular service subscribers
increased to 42.508 million in Febraury from 42.23 million in
January.
FACTORS TO WATCH:
* Nikkei .N225 up 2.5 pct as exporters, banks gain [.T]
* U.S. stocks sink on commodities' slide, Merrill nerves [.N]
* STOCKS NEWS ASIA-Market factors, main events [STXNEWS/ASIA]
* Oil falls 4.5 pct as dealers eye weak US demand [O/R]
* Dollar slips vs yen; concerns on U.S. economy weigh [USD/]
* For upcoming Hong Kong events, click on [HK/DIARY]
* For Hong Kong press digest, click on [PRESS/HK]
KEY HK ADR MOVERS (by % change)
TOM Online (TOMO.O)8282.HK +3.2
China Unicom (CHU.N)(0762.HK) -8.5
Aluminum Corp (ACH.N)(2600.HK) -8.7
Sinopec Shanghai Petroleum (SHI.N)(0338.HK) -9.3
China South Air (ZNH.N)(1055.HK) -9.3
(US$1=HK$7.8)
