HONG KONG, April 9 (Reuters) - Hong Kong shares are expected
to recover from a two-day slump after the U.S. markets rose amid
signs of improved consumer confidence and business spending, but
investors may be cautious ahead of the long weekend.
Hong Kong's equity markets will be closed on Friday and
Monday for the Easter holiday.
Beijing-backed CITIC Pacific (0267.HK) will be in focus after
the company said Chairman Larry Yung, once China's richest man,
and Managing Director Henry Fan had quit the company, which was
rocked by $1.9 billion in foreign exchange losses in 2008.
CITIC Group Deputy Chairman and President Chang Zhenming, 52,
was appointed chairman and managing director, the Hong
Kong-listed group said in a statement on Wednesday.
But analysts said while the management reshuffle was
necessary it was not enough to turnaroud the company.
"We believe drastic changes in strategy, execution and risk
control are needed to turn it around to restore investor
confidence. These changes are unlikely to happen overnight,"
analysts with Merrill Lynch said in a note to investors.
The stock, which has been suspended since last Friday, when
police raided the offices of CITIC Pacific looking for
information on the forex contracts, will resume trade on
Thursday. The shares are up 13 percent so far this year, beating
a 0.6 percent rise in the index.
The benchmark Hang Seng Index .HSI slid 3 percent to
14,474.86 on Wednesday on worries over weak corporate
first-quarter earnings amid the global downturn.
STOCKS TO WATCH-
* Shandong Chenming Paper Holdings (1812.HK) said its profit
attributable to equity holders rose to 1.1 billion yuan for 2008,
from 994 million yuan the year before. For statement please see
here
* Lonking Holdings (3339.HK) said it would issue one bonus
share for every existing share to shareholders who register with
the firm between May 26-29. For statement please click
here
* Xinda International Holdings (1899.HK) said profit
attributable to equity holders rose 21.1 percent to 418.2 million
yuan in 2008. For statement please see
here
* Sing Tao News Corp (1105.HK) swung to a net loss of HK$142
million in 2008 from a net profit of HK$159.6 million a year
earlier. For statement please see
here
* Dongfang Electric Corporation (1072.HK) said net profit
attributable to equity holders fell to 479.9 million yuan in
2008, from 2.2 billion yuan a year earlier. For statement please
see
here
* Xinjiang Xinxin Mining Industry (3833.HK) said net profit
attributable to equity holders fell to 297.6 million yuan in
2008, from 827.3 million yuan a year earlier. For statement
please see
here
----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 2241 GMT ------------
INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG
S&P 500 .SPX 825.16 1.18% 9.610
USD/JPY JPY= 99.71 -0.02% -0.020
10-YR US TSY YLD US10YT=RR 2.8633 -- 0.000
SPOT GOLD XAU= 880.25 0.08% 0.700
US CRUDE CLc1 50.07 1.40% 0.690
DOW JONES .DJI 7837.11 0.61% 47.55
ASIA ADRS .BKAS 94.65 0.78% 0.73
-------------------------------------------------------------
MARKETS SUMMARY
*Wall Street gains as insurers, retailers rally [nN08369685]
*Oil settles higher, but trims earlier gains [nSP425582]
*Dollar slides vs yen as risk appetite stays low [nN08541923]
*Treasuries rise; Fed downgrades view of economy [nN08541282]
(Reporting by Parvathy Ullatil; Editing by Chris Lewis)
