HK Stocks Follow NY Gains; Casinos Revenues Up

Mayank Mehta
05 Jan, 2010
New York City

Hong Kong stocks increased following gains in Europe and New York. Resource sector stocks rallied after energy prices gained as the freezing weather in Asia and North America drive the fuel demand higher. Casino stocks surged in after December revenues exceed the estimates.

[R]8:30 AM Hong Kong, China – Hong Kong stocks increased following gains in Europe and New York. Resource sector stocks rallied after energy prices gained as the freezing weather in Asia and North America drive the fuel demand higher. Casino stocks surged in after December revenues exceed the estimates. Pacific Basin Shipping’s CEO resigns.[/R]

Freezing weather from Beijing to Miami has hampered coal transportation and citrus crop and driven up the demand for energy. Futures of gasoline, crude oil and natural gas jumped for the second day in London, New York and Asia.

Crude oil futures in Asian trading edged higher in Singapore and Hong Kong.

Hang Seng index in Hong Kong increased 456.30 or 2.09% to 22,279.58, and CSI 300 index in China higher 28.81 or 0.81% to 3,564.04. Of the stocks in Hang Seng index, 140 increased, 50 declined and 10 were unchanged.

China has approved the trading of index futures contract as early as this March according to several media reports in Hong Kong and Shanghai. The contracts based on the CSI 300 index are expected to provide investors to buy, sell and short the market compared to only buying stocks in China.

Securities trading companies stocks have been on the rise ahead of the index trading in the hopes of improved trading volumes. Citic Securities Co. and Haitong Securities jumped more than 5%.

Hutchison Whampoa Ltd increased 4.1% to HK$56.25 after the unit Hutchison Telecommunications International Ltd said that company expects the offer from its parent.

Other Movers

Aluminum Corporation of China Limited the producer of the metal surged 9.0% to HK$9.49 after reports of manufacturing expansion in China and the U.S.

Cnooc Limited added 5.5% to HK$12.92 after the offshore oil explorer led consortium acquired an oilfield in Algeria. The sharp rise in international oil prices also helped the stock.

Macau casino revenues in December increased 48% to 11 billion patacas or $1.4 billion according to Portuguese news service Lusa.

Galaxy Entertainment Group Limited an investment company increased 6.8% to HK$3.44, Melco International Development Ltd increased 5.9% to HK$3.79 and Wynn Macau Ltd added 5.1% to HK$10.04.

Pacific Basin Shipping Limited increased 6.5% to HK$6.15 after the operator of dry-bulk vessels has announced its CEO Richard Hext has resigned. Separately, the container shipping companies gained after the freight rate index, the Baltic Dry Index increased 4.5% in London trading.

PetroChina Company Limited rose 6.0% to HK$9.85 after a rally in international crude prices.

Sinofert Holdings Limited surged 9.7% to HK$5.05 after the Chinese importer of fertilizers was rerated to “neutral” from “sell” at Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Yanzhou Coal Mining Company Limited the mainland coal miner rose 8.7% to HK$19.10 after natural resource and energy prices gained as cold weather drive the demand for fuels.

Zijin Mining Group Co., Ltd the gold producer surged 11.0% to HK$8.24 on a rally in cooper and gold prices in London and New York.