HONG KONG, March 12 (Reuters) - Hong Kong shares are expected
to hover on Thursday, with support from positive news out of the
U.S. financial sector fading in the absence of fresh announcements on stimulus spending from China.
Shares in HSBC (0005.HK), which will make their ex-rights
debut on Thursday, are expected to hold steady, with selling
pressure seen easing after Hong Kong's Financial Secretary said
the exchange operator was considering scraping its 10-minute
post-close auction.
HSBC shares doubled its daily loss to plunge 24 percent in
the final seconds of the closing auction on Monday as technical
trading was triggered ahead of the bank's $17.7 billion rights
issue. But some investors have alleged price manipulation,
prompting an investigation by the local securities watchdog.
"There are obviously some naughty boys running in the school
yard and when they see the regulator talking tough it's quite
likely they are going to lay low for some time," said Ben Kwong
COO with KGI Asia.
On Wednesday, JP Morgan (JPM.N) followed Citigroup's (C.N)
lead to say the bank was profitable in the first two months of
2009.
The benchmark Hang Seng Index .HSI rose 2 percent to close
at 11,930.66 on Wednesday, rising for a second day and completely
recouping Monday's steep losses.
STOCKS TO WATCH-
* Sun Hung Kai Properties (0016.HK), Asia's largest property
developer in terms of market value, posted a 27 percent drop in
underlying fiscal first-half earnings to HK$4.5 billion, lagging
a Reuters estimate of $5.4 billion, on lower sales amid a weak
property market.
Underlying profit excludes gains from revaluation of
investment properties. [ID:nHKF079997]
The developer also said it aimed to sell HK$17 billion ($2.2
billion) worth of property in 2009.
----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 2306 GMT ------------
INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG
S&P 500 .SPX 721.36 0.24% 1.760
USD/JPY JPY= 97.43 0.14% 0.140
10-YR US TSY YLD US10YT=RR 2.9121 -- 0.000
SPOT GOLD XAU= 908.25 0.18% 1.600
US CRUDE CLc1 42.78 1.06% 0.460
DOW JONES .DJI 6930.40 0.06% 3.91
-------------------------------------------------------------
> Wall St up for 2nd day, Dimon's remarks buoy banks [.N]
> U.S. dollar falls as investors wait for news [USD/]
> Bonds rise after 10Y sale calms supply worries [US/]
> Gold rebounds as equities rally fizzles [GOL/]
> Oil drops 7 pct on weak demand, rising inventories [O/R]
(Reporting by Parvathy Ullatil; Editing by Ken Wills)
(parvathy.ullatil@thomsonreuters.com; +852 2843-6415))
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