HK shares seen higher on Wall St gains, lower oil

HONG KONG, Aug 15 (Reuters) - Hong Kong shares are expected to rise, with another dip in oil prices seen easing inflationary pressures and supporting corporate margins.

U.S. stocks rose in thin trade on Thursday as lower oil prices encouraged hopes that consumer spending would recover, and financial shares bounced back from a two-day sell-off.

The U.S. market had initially fallen after government data showed consumer prices rose at twice the rate expected in July, while weekly jobless data showed further deterioration in the labour market.

"Investors took that (the consumer price data) to signal the peak of the current high inflationary cycle with easing oil prices expected to usher in a more manageable price environment," said Francis Lun, general manager with Fulbright Securities.

Oil fell to $115 a barrel on Thursday as economic weakness in Europe underscored the threat to global oil demand growth and on hopes a shaky cease-fire between Russia and Georgia would hold.

Hong Kong shares snapped a four-day losing streak with a 0.5 percent gain on Thursday, as a rally in commodity-linked stocks countered the post-earnings falls in Li & Fung (0494.HK) and Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing (0388.HK).

STOCKS TO WATCH- * Anhui Conch (0914.HK) said its profit attributable to equity shareholders for the first half of 2008 rose 45.7 percent to 1.30 billion yuan. It expects cement prices to be stable. For statement please see here

* China Shenhua (1088.HK) said on Thursday its commercial coal production rose 17.4 percent year-on-year to 16.2 million tonnes in July, coal sales rose 12.1 percent to 19.4 million tonnes, while total power output dispatch rose 38.2 percent. For statement please see here

* Maanshan Iron and Steel (0323.HK) said its net profit attributable to shareholders soared 103.5 percent to 2.26 billion yuan for the first half of 2008 as steel product prices surged amid strong demand in international markets. For statement please see here

* Dore Holdings Ltd (0628.HK) said on Thursday it would buy stakes in two firms engaged in Macau gaming promotion for an aggregate of about HK$2 billion. The deals are to be settled in cash and issue of convertible bonds. For statement please see here ----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 2345 GMT ------------

INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG S&P 500 .SPX 1292.93 0.55% 7.100 USD/JPY JPY= 109.84 0.05% 0.060 10-YR US TSY YLD US10YT=RR 3.8897 -- -0.010 SPOT GOLD XAU= 799.8 -0.72% -5.800 US CRUDE CLc1 114.71 -0.26% -0.310 DOW JONES .DJI 11615.93 0.72% 82.97 ASIA ADRS .BKAS 138.18 0.01% 0.01 -------------------------------------------------------------> > SE Asian Stocks-Higher on resource shares as oil firms [.SO] > US STOCKS-Wall St ends higher on oil's drop, financials [.N] > Oil falls to $115 on economic weakness [O/R] > FOREX-Dollar jumps to near 6-month high versus euro [USD/] > TREASURIES-Bonds rally as dealers look beyond inflation [US/] > Gold ends sharply lower as dollar soars [GOL/]

(Reporting by Parvathy Ullatil; Editing by Dominic Whiting)