HONG KONG, April 9 (Reuters) - These are some of the leading stories in Hong Kong newspapers on Wednesday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
HONG KONG ECONOMIC TIMES
-- Local airline Oasis Hong Kong, launched in Oct. 2006, is said to be running out of business and will stop flying from today. The airline has reportedly accumulated losses of as much as HK$1 billion. Sources say more than HK$1 million in losses is incurred on each flight Oasis operates.
-- Developer Sino Land 0083.HK is poised to apply for approval to convert two of its commercial buildings on Hong Kong Island into hotels with a combined 360 rooms.
APPLE DAILY
-- The International Monetary Fund is planning to offload some 403 tonnes of gold in its reserves by phases in a bid to cope with its budget deficit. The move will be the sixth time the organisation has sold gold and the first in the past eight years. The sale is expected to bring in more than US$13 billion.
MING PAO DAILY NEWS
-- Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing 0388.HK closed the nominations for the new board of directors. Two newcomers are in the race of four. The Hong Kong government, which owns 5.88 percent of the company, did not send any nominee this time.
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
-- Beijing is set to ease rules on investment by overseas institutions, including relaxing rules on the lock-up period, according to the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.
-- A credit card racket that cheated 15 banks out of HK$2 million in the past nine months was broken with the arrest of 16 people, including three core figures, police said.
THE STANDARD
-- Four listing hopefuls are pitching to raise a maximum of HK$14.9 billion on the local bourse next month but warned that their plans might change as they are cautious about the stock market situation.
-- The computer and all things digital have sidelined radio and television. According to Hong Kong’s 2007 Media Atlas survey conducted by Synovate, men are spending more time surfing the Internet than watching television and women own as many if not more digital gadgets than the boys.
SING PAO
-- Some Hong Kong citizens have vowed to protect the Olympic torch when it arrives in the territory for the relay. The Security Bureau says there will be adequate police manpower to protect the torch relay here.
WEN WEI PO
-- Many retail investors are exiting the A share stock market .SSEC in mainland China. A study by topview showed more than 220,000 investors closed their positions on March 28 alone and most of them were holding 10,000 shares or less in their stock accounts.
TA KUNG PAO
-- China’s nominal GDP -- or GDP before inflation -- is expected to surpass that of Japan to become the biggest economy in Asia no later than 2012, according to a report by a Japanese brokerage.
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