HK Stocks Weak; CapitaLand, Orient Overseas Deal

Mayank Mehta
18 Jan, 2010
New York City

Stocks in China closed mixed ahead of earnings season. Orient Overseas Ltd, battling a deep slump in container shipment traffic sold its China property development projects for $2 billion to Singapore based CapitaLand Ltd. Shanghai home sales plunged 53% in the first two weeks in January.

[R]10:00 PM Hong Kong, China – Stocks in China closed mixed ahead of earnings season. Orient Overseas Ltd, battling a deep slump in container shipment traffic sold its China property development projects for $2 billion to Singapore based CapitaLand Ltd. Shanghai home sales plunged 53% in the first two weeks in January.[/R]

Stocks in Hong Kong declined and in Shanghai edged higher ahead of earnings season. Orient Overseas Ltd was halted ahead of announcement that the company has agreed to sell its mainland China based property development projects to CapitaLand Ltd.

Hang Seng index in Hong Kong decreased 194.15 or 0.90% to 21,460.01, and CSI 300 index in China higher 17.95 or 0.52% to 3,500.68.

Shanghai home sales plunged 53% in the first two weeks of January from a year ago and prices declined 5% according to a report published in Oriental Morning Post in the city.

Other Movers

China Eastern Airlines Corporation Limited added 5.0% to 6.65 yuan after the air carrier said it expects net profit for the year to total 13.9 billion yuan.

Cnooc Limited dropped 1.7% to HK$12.06 after the offshore crude oil and natural gas field developer was just gained the license for refined oil export according to local media in Shanghai.

HSBC Holdings plc decreased 1.7% to HK$89.15 and the bank is looking to bid for Thailand based Siam City Bank.

Lonking Holdings Limited declined 4.1% to HK$5.85 after the maker of earthmoving equipment was downgraded to “neutral” at Credit Suisse Group AG.

Orient Overseas (International) Limited before trading suspension traded at HK$51.50 and container transport and logistics services and property developer agreed to sell its China property projects worth $2 billion to Singapore''s CapitaLand Ltd.

Orient Overseas decided to sell its China based property development project after it suffered its first loss as global container and shipping cargo suffer from one of the worst recession in many years.

Of the acquired 1.48 million square meters of space, about half is for residential markets and the rest is for retail, hotel and office markets.

PetroChina Company Limited the oil company fell 1.2% to HK$9.40.

Shimao Property Holdings Limited slipped 2.2% to HK$12.78 an investment company said it is considering soliciting consents to amend some terms of two series of notes.

Shanghai Jin Jiang International Hotels Development Co., Ltd increased 7.4% to 28.41 yuan.

Shanghai Yuyuan Tourist Mart Co., Ltd the operation of department stores and entertainment shops rose 6.9% to 31.15 yuan.