Hong Kong stocks are set for a weak open on Wednesday after five successive gaining sessions as
commodity-related stocks pull back with investors taking some
money off the table.
The benchmark Hang Seng Index .HSI rose 1 percent on
Tuesday, helped by a strong start to the year for mainland
markets and as cyclical counters such as shippers rose on
optimism toward the global economic recovery.
Stocks on Wall Street edged lower as investors shed long
positions in the red-hot resource sector after recent gains as
copper, oil and other commodities slipped from multi-year highs.
Oil majors PetroChina (0857.HK) and CNOOC (0883.HK) closed
lower on Tuesday in Hong Kong as light profit-taking in the
latter half of the day pulled their shares lower.
Easing oil prices, expectations of a stronger yuan and a
rebound in Chinese air travel is likely to lift shares of
mainland airline operators.
China Eastern Airlines (0670.HK), the country's third most
valuable airline, expects 2010 net profit to be ten-fold that of
2009 due to brisk air travel in China. [ID:nTOE70306I]
However, news of the opening of the $33 billion high-speed
rail link between Beijing and Shanghai in June that cuts the
journey between the two cities in half to less than five hours is
seen as negative to mainland airlines and could hurt profits.
Elsewhere in Asia, Japan's Nikkei .N225 was down 0.1
percent while South Korea's KOSPI .KS11 was trading flat as of
0105 GMT.
STOCKS TO WATCH:
* Chinese car maker BYD Co Ltd (1211.HK), backed by U.S.
billionaire Warren Buffett, said on Tuesday that it sold a total
of 519,806 vehicles in 2010, falling short of a revised target of
600,000 units. [ID:nHKV002612]
* China will open its $33 billion high-speed rail link
between Beijing and Shanghai in June, cutting the journey between
the two cities in half to less than five hours. The new line is
expected to provide a serious challenge to airlines including Air
China Ltd (601111.SS)(0753.HK), China Eastern Airlines Corp Ltd
(600115.SS) and China Southern Airlines Co Ltd (600029.SS)
1055.HK>. [ID:nTOE70304Y]
* Two executives from China Gas Holdings Ltd (0384.HK), a
natural gas distributor, have been detained for investigation by
China's police, the company said on Tuesday. [ID:nTOE703064]
* PetroChina (0857.HK) has put into operation a 1.8 million
tonne per year (tpy) gasoline hydrotreating unit at its Lanzhou
refinery, an industry source said on Tuesday. [ID:nTOE703068]
* The United Laboratories International Holdings Ltd
(3933.HK) said the China State Food and Drug Administration had
approved applications of its three insulin finished products,
bringing the total number of insulin products approved to five.
The relevant insulin products will be launched to the market
soon. For statement click
here
* China Vanke Co Ltd (000002.SZ) said on Tuesday its sales
for 2010 rose 70.5 percent to 108.2 billion yuan ($16.4 billion),
despite a slowdown for the final month of the year.
[ID:nTOE70306D]
* China's XZ Construction (000425.SZ), a maker of
construction machinery, plans to float its shares in Hong Kong,
the company said in a filing with the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on
Wednesday. [ID:nTOE70306X]
MARKET SUMMARY
*Wall Street edges lower on commodity shares [nN04241972]
*Treasuries losses may stall, trade in range [nN04231899]
*Dollar buoyed by US data, lower oil prices [nN04234864]
*Oil slides 2 percent as commodities slump [nL3E7C407O]
(Reporting by Vikram S Subhedar, Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
