HK Hot Stocks- Power stocks fall, Tsingtao shines

HONG KONG, Aug 20 (Reuters) - At 0250 GMT the Hang Seng Index .HSI was 1.49 percent higher at 20,788.64 after opening 0.47 percent lower, bucking weak sentiment in the region.

The index recovered from early losses amid hopes of a rescue package to support fragile mainland stock markets, fueling bargain hunters to return to the market.

China's leaders are carefully considering an economic stimulus package of at least 200 billion yuan ($29.13 billion) to 400 billion yuan and may ease monetary policy by the end of the year, investment bank JPMorgan Chase said on Tuesday.

The China Enterprises Index .HSCE of top locally listed mainland firms climbed 2.3 percent after it opened 0.22 percent lower.

China's Shanghai benchmark index .SSEC surged 3.9 percent.

Here are some of the stocks on the move in early trade:

- Power stocks fell after Beijing announced its second power tariff hike in two months, prompting investors to take profits.

Shares in Huaneng Power International (0902.HK) (600011.SS) (HNP.N), China's top electricity provider, fell as much as 7.6 percent. Smaller rivals Datang Power (0991.HK) (601991.SS) dropped 5 percent and Huadian Power (1071.HK) (600027.SS) fell more than 8 percent.

China is raising on-grid power tariffs for thermal generators by 0.02 yuan ($0.291) per kilowatt hour, or about 5 percent, the second rise in less than two months, the government said on Tuesday, as Beijing seeks to ease the worst power crisis in four years.

- Tsingtao Brewery Co Ltd (0168.HK) jumped more than 9 percent to HK$14.40 after China's best-known beer brand posted a 41.9 percent rise in first-half profit to 381.13 million yuan ($55.51 million) despite soaring raw material prices. Merrill Lynch later upgraded Tsingtao (600600.SS) to buy from underperform after the better-than-expected interim results.

- Shares in PICC Property & Casualty (2328.HK), China's top non-life insurer, fell more than 5 percent after it reported a loss for the first half of the year as natural disasters in China drove up catastrophic claims.

- Shares of China National Building Material Co Ltd (3323.HK) jumped 9.9 percent to HK$11.10 after it said late on Tuesday that it expected its profit for the first half of 2008 to increase substantially from last year due to an increase in revenue from cement and engineering services.

- Shenzhen Investment Ltd (0604.HK) fell 11 percent after the Chinese property firm warned of a substantial decline in first-half profit due to declining property price and transaction volume under China's credit tightening measures. (US$1=HK$7.8) (Reporting by Donny Kwok; Editing by Ken Wills)