Friday September 4, 02:52 AM
HK shares set to rise after US retail sales data
HONG KONG, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Hong Kong shares are seen gaining on Friday after strong U.S. retail sales data boosted shares on Wall Street, but investors are likely to stay on the sidelines ahead of key monthly jobs data.
Bank
stocks will be in focus after China's banking regulator said on Thursday it would only gradually exclude cross-bank holdings of subordinated bonds and similar instruments from banks' capital bases, taking some of the sting out of tighter new rules.
The regulator also sounded another warning to the nation's banks, saying they must strictly guard against risks and ensure that credit flows to the real economy, Wang Huaqing, a senior official at the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC), was quoted as saying on Friday.
Wang, secretary of the CBRC's discipline commission, reminded banks that they should gradually increase provisions to 150 percent of their non-performing loans from 130 percent.
The benchmark Hang Seng Index finished 239.68 points higher at 19,761.68 on Thursday, but turnover stayed slim at HK$57.8 billion.
STOCKS TO WATCH-
* Cash-rich commercial property developer SOHO China (0410.HK - news) said it will pay 4 billion yuan ($586 million) to buy land in Beijing, stepping up its land bank replenishment in anticipation of rising valuations.
The company won a tender for land that would accommodate buildings with gross floor area of up to 500,000 square metres at Wangjing in Beijing's Chaoyang district, Chairman Pan Shiyi told reporters on Thursday.
----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 2239 GMT ------------
INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG S&P 500 1003.24 0.85% 8.490 USD/JPY 92.57 -0.02% -0.020 10-YR US TSY YLD 3.3403 -- 0.000 SPOT GOLD 993.25 0.32% 3.150 US CRUDE 68.15 0.28% 0.190 DOW JONES (news) 9344.61 0.69% 63.94 ASIA ADRS 119.62 0.83% 0.98 -------------------------------------------------------------
Market Summary *Wall Street ends up on surprising retailers' sales *Oil falls slightly on disappointing economic data *Treasury proposes int'l capital accord for banks *Yen dips from 7-week highs; ECB weighs on euro
(Reporting by Parvathy Ullatil; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner)
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