Home > Community > Financial Markets > HK shares may rise on bargain hunting after 2-day fall

HK shares may rise on bargain hunting after 2-day fall

Published: 03 Nov 2009 18:13:24 PST

HONG KONG, Nov 4 - Hong Kong shares may rise on Wednesday on bargain hunting after the market's fall in the last two sessions, with China Unicom in focus after it signed up over one million 3G subscribers.

Analysts said, however, handset subsidies and marketing costs may weigh on profit margins of China Unicom, China's No. 2 mobile carrier. [ID:nPEK156986

"Hong Kong will recover slightly today mainly because of bargain hunting," said Francis Lun, general manager at Fulbright Securities. "The U.S. market did not fall that much last night, so Hong Kong will probably gain 200 points today."

Wall Street ended mixed on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq posting modest gains on merger expectations, but the Dow fell after a downgrade of the tech sector.

The market will be closely watching the outcome of the Federal Reserve meeting later in the day.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index closed down 1.76 percent on Tuesday, its second day of decline. The index had fallen 2.36 percent in the last two days.

STOCKS TO WATCH:

* Chinese oil refiner Sinopec said it will buy about one million barrels per day of crude from Saudi Arabia next year, a volume nearly 30 percent above the current rate. The firm expects its refining business to stay profitable in the last quarter.

* Asia Resources Holdings said it would buy a 55 percent stake in a mining and iron ore trading venture in East Java province in Indonesia for HK$577.5 million, a deal to be settled by issue of convertible note and in cash.

* China Overseas Land said it had successfully bid for a piece of land in Jiangbei City in Chongqing for 4.1 billion yuan. The firm will team up with Wharf to jointly develop the site into residential and office properties.

* Dongfeng Motor Group said its net profit for the first nine months of the year amounted to 4.63 billion in accordance to Chinese accounting standards. It gave no comparison figures.

* Huadian Power said it would buy from XinKuang Inner Mongolia Energy Co a 35-percent stake in Inner Mongolia Fucheng Mining Co Ltd for 498 million yuan and a 25-percent stake in Inner Mongolia Ertuokeqianqi Changcheng Mine Co Ltd for 180 million yuan.

* Mobile handset maker TCL Communications Technology said it planned to raise HK$357.5 million by offering shares at HK$1 each.