China Stocks Rise; ICBC Acquires 10% in HKME

Darlington Musarurwa
14 Dec, 2009
New York City

Hong Kong index of industrial production falls 8.6% in the third quarter. Hong Kong and Chinese stocks rise after markets in Asia and Australia gain on the Abu Dhabi bailout of Dubai World. ICBC acquired 10% stake in Hong Kong Mercantile Exchange.

[R]6:00 AM New York, 6:00 PM Hong Kong - Hong Kong index of industrial production falls 8.6% in the third quarter. Hong Kong and Chinese stocks rise after markets in Asia and Australia gain on the Abu Dhabi bailout of Dubai World. ICBC acquired 10% stake in Hong Kong Mercantile Exchange.[/R]

Hong Kong and Chinese stocks advanced after Abu Dhabi offered emergency $10 billion to Dubai World to avoid the default on $4.1 billion Islamic bonds that are due today. The additional $6 billion will be paid to contractors, suppliers and loan to interests.

In Hong Kong trading Hang Seng Index gained 0.8% or 183.64 to 2,085.75, and the China Enterprises Index of Hong Kong listed index, or H shares, edged up 0.6% or 81.85 to 13, 049.34. In Shanghai trading, CSI 300 Index gained 1.1% or 37.73 to 3,612.75.

Daily turnover on main-board increased to HK$70.01 billion from HK$68.95 billion yesterday.

HK Industrial Production Falls 8.6% in Q3

Census and Statistics Department reported today the index of industrial production from the manufacturing sector declined 8.6% in the third quarter from a year ago.

The index had dropped 9.5% in the period a year ago.

The seasonally adjusted index of production for the manufacturing sector as a whole fell 1.9% in the third quarter in seasonally adjusted terms.

Indexes in all industry groups decreased, with the wearing apparel industry leading the decliners with a fall of 30.2% followed by declines in textile industry by 23.4%; metal, computer, electronic and optical products, machinery and equipment by 11.6%; and the paper products, printing and reproduction of recorded industry by 7.1%.

Producer Price Index fell 2% in the third quarter from the comparable year ago period weighed by metal, electronic and optical products, machinery and equipment industry falling 6.3%.

However, increases were in food, beverages and tobacco industry by 3.7%.

HK Visitors to Top 30 million

Xinhua News Agency reported that Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government financial secretary John Tsang said yesterday visitors will likely be the same as last year at 30 million despite the global financial crisis.

Tsang says Hong Kong has invested HK$30 billion over the past few years in attracts and will be “investing another HK$17 billion in tourism infrastructure.”

Gainers & Losers

Financial stocks in Hong Kong rose on the $10 billion pledge by Abu Dhabi to Dubai. HSBC rose 1.4% to HK$91.45 and Standard Chartered advanced 4.8% to HK$197.20.

China Mobile increased 1.4% to HK$71.35 despite reports it will remove local and roaming fees for cell phone users for long-distance calls effective January 1.

Sinopec Corp climbed 7.3% to HK$6.91 as Bank of America-Merrill Lynch said the company’s profits will rise until oil gains to $130 per barrel.

Refiners also rose in Shanghai. Sinopec climbed 8.4% to Rmb13.70 and PetroChina rose 1.7% to Rmb5.32.

Merchants Securities closed down 0.7% to Rmb 31.22 above its IPO price of Rmb31.