Li & Fung falls over 9 pct after earnings miss

HONG KONG, March 28 (Reuters) - Shares in Hong Kong-based trading firm Li & Fung (0494.HK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), which sources goods for Wal-Mart (WMT.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), fell more than 9 pct on Friday after its full-year results missed expectations due to a slowdown in orders from its dominant U.S. market.

On Thursday, Li & Fung reported a 39 percent rise in full year net profit to HK$3.06 billion ($393.4 million), but that fell short of an average forecast of HK$3.34 billion, according to analysts polled by Reuters Estimates.

Merrill Lynch downgraded the stock to neutral from buy, and Cazenove cut the stock to in-line from outperform.

"Given the market's high expectations and the stock's 42 percent rebound from its January low, we think the market is unlikely to look through this miss," Merrill said in a research note.

As of 0245 GMT, the stock was down more than 9 percent at HK$28.90, easily lagging the 0.84 percent climb on Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng Index .HSI.

(Reporting by Joseph Chaney; editing by Ken Wills)

($1=7.778 Hong Kong Dollar)