HK stocks seen down after China's stamp duty hike

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong stocks may fall on Wednesday on concerns that China's moves to cool its stock market could prompt a global equities sell-off, but losses should be capped since Hong Kong has not tracked the sharp gains in China.

China said it would raise the stock trading stamp duty to 0.3 percent starting on Wednesday from the current 0.1 percent.

"It will take a bit of froth out of the mainland market -- that's for sure," said Andrew Clarke, a trader at Societe Generale Securities.

"But H shares have not followed the A shares too much, so the impact could be muted."

Shares in Hong Kong-listed mainland companies .HSCE, or H shares, are up about 3 percent in the year, versus the roughly 60 percent gain in the domestic A-share market .SSEC.

Market fundamentals have not changed, and the expected decline in Hong Kong will primarily mirror investor psychology, said Tat Auyeung, fund manager at Apex Capital Management.

"It will affect sentiment," he said.

"This is mildly negative in the short-run, but in the long run, it's good, because it shows the Chinese government is not trying to put too many restrictions on the market -- they're just trying to take some liquidity out of the market."

Auyeung said Hong Kong could follow the decline in the mainland by a fraction on the order of 30 to 40 percent. Thus, if China falls 10 percent, Hong Kong may fall up to 4 percent.

Conita Hung, head of equity markets at Delta Asia Financial Group said blue chips should be supported at the 20,300 level.

The benchmark Hang Seng index .HSI fell 0.3 percent to 20,469.59 on Tuesday.

STOCKS TO WATCH:

* Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd. (1398.HK) launched a new product on Tuesday that allows clients to invest yuan in Hong Kong stocks and bonds.

* Major shareholders of Luks Industrial (0366.HK) sold 70.5 million shares at HK$12.80 each, raising HK$902.4 million (US$115.7 million), according to a term sheet obtained by Reuters on Wednesday.

FACTORS TO WATCH: * Nikkei .N225 turns positive as laggards rebound .T * U.S. indexes rise on tech M&Q, but China and oil drag .N * STOCKS NEWS ASIA-Market factors, main events <STXNEWS/ASIA> * Oil slumps on Nigeria, U.S. refinery restarts <O/R> * Japanese yen rebounds after China stamp duty hike <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)

APT Satellite ATS.N(1045.HK) +4.6

Hutchison Telecom (HTX.N)(2332.HK) +2.0

Yanzhou Coal (YZC.N)(1171.HK) +1.2

Asia Satellite SAT.N(1135.HK) +1.2

Sinopec (SNP.N)(0386.HK) +0.5

(US$1=HK$7.8)