HONG KONG: Hong Kong stocks were set for a weaker open on Tuesday after fears that Portugal may be forced into a bailout weighed on Wall Street and prompted a pull back in risk appetite.
The Hang Seng Index retreated on Monday as banking and property counters fell on news that the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing may impose a property tax in the current quarter, stoking concern that other cities may follow suit.
Several analysts said any weakness in Asia from the euro zone situation would be temporary as fundamentals and corporate earnings in Asia remained robust.
While Asian stocks had remained sought after in recent weeks and generally insulated relative to the Eurozone's ongoing travails, the easing in risk appetite appeared to have spilled over to other regions, said Samarjit Shankar at BNY Mellon.
The S&P 500 ended lower for a third straight session, suggesting the bullish momentum seen at the start of the year has stalled.
Market players see strong earnings for major U.S. corporations reviving investor interest and offsetting concerns over the euro zone's debt woes.
Elsewhere in Asia, Japan's Nikkei was down 0.4 percent while South Korea's KOSPI was down 0.9 percent as of 0110 GMT.
STOCKS TO WATCH:
* China Baoshan Iron & Steel Co Ltd (Baosteel), the country's biggest listed steelmaker, said on Monday that preliminary figures showed net profit in 2010 reached 12.81 billion yuan ($1.94 billion), up 120 percent.
* PetroChina Co Ltd. announced a framework deal on Monday to partner with private British company INEOS to form refining joint ventures at the Lavera refinery in France and Grangemouth in Scotland.
* Taiwan's Fubon Financial Holding Co Ltd. will take its Hong Kong subsidiary private in an around $188 million deal that it said on Monday would boost its operating efficiency. Fubon will pay HK$5 per share for the 25 percent of ordinary shares it does not already own in Fubon Bank (Hong Kong) Ltd., a 32 percent premium to the stock's close on Friday.
* Henderson Land Development Co Ltd. said on Monday that it had entered into a HK$10 billion ($1.3 billion) term loan and revolving credit agreement with a syndicate of banks, it said on Monday.
* Taiwan's Acer Inc , the world's No.2 PC vendor, said on Monday that its unconsolidated December sales were T$34.78 billion ($1.19 billion), 29.8 percent lower than the same month a year earlier.
* Auto sales in China rose by a third to a record in 2010, securing its position as the world's top market, but analysts said sales may decline, especially in the first few months of this year, after Beijing scrapped incentives for small cars.
* Hong Kong-based cosmetics retailer and wholesaler Sa Sa International Holdings Ltd. said on Monday that turnover in the fiscal third quarter ended December rose 16.8 percent from a year earlier.
* China-focussed menswear retailer Trinity Ltd. said it planned to sell 100 million shares in a top-up share placement at HK$7.5 each, or a 5.7 percent discount to the previous close, raising net proceeds of HK$736 million for working capital and to fund future development and acquisitions.
* China State Construction International Holdings Ltd. said it recorded new contract value of HK$24.93 billion by the end of December 2010, up 45.8 percent from a year earlier and a 124.7 percent accomplishment of the full-year target of 2010.
* Anhui Conch Cement Co Ltd. said it expected to record an increase of more than 50 percent in net profit for the year ended December 2010 compared with the previous year, as demand for cement grew and selling price rose. For statement click
?
Comments
Comments are closed.