PRESS DIGEST - Hong Kong - Aug 8

HONG KONG, Aug 8 (Reuters) - These are some of the leading stories in Hong Kong newspapers on Friday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

HONG KONG ECONOMIC TIMES

-- Downtown firms may not hold parties for the Olympic Games opening this evening like they did for World Cup soccer, but some companies are closing earlier tonight to let workers go home to watch the gala.

APPLE DAILY

-- Hong Kong Monetary Authority chief executive Joseph Yam seems to be more worried about the Asian economic outlook. He said in a weekly column that Hong Kong's GDP growth would slow in the second half of the year and that a lower-than-expected growth rate could not be ruled out.

MING PAO DAILY NEWS

-- Mainland-based sports goods manufacturer plays slid ahead of the Beijing Games. Industry leader Li Ning Co (2331.HK) saw share price drop as much as 8.4 percent before closing with a 5 percent loss.

SING TAO DAILY

-- Swire Pacific's (0019.HK) underlying profit for the first half dropped 38 percent from last year to HK$3.265 billion ($418.3 million). The group was dragged by losses of subsidiary airline Cathay Pacific Airways (0293.HK).

SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST

-- Beijing has signalled a major shift in its foreign-exchange policy by dropping a reference to managing the yuan's value through a basket of foreign currencies, a step some analysts say is a move towards a free-floating exchange rate.

-- Franklin Wong, a 65-year-old former Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) producer, was on Thursday named Hong Kong's director of broadcasting, ending months of speculation about who would lead trouble-plagued RTHK, the future of which is still uncertain.

THE STANDARD

-- The High Court has dismissed a judicial review sought by a law firm that claimed its professional privileges had been violated by the Independent Commission Against Corruption during a raid without search warrants.

-- Hong Kong-listed mainland coal producer China Shenhua (1088.HK) saw its net profit gain 43.6 percent to 14 billion yuan ($2.04 billion) in the first half on the back of rising demand and fuel price increases.

HONG KONG ECONOMIC JOURNAL