Hong Kong shares may start weaker; China bank earnings in focus

Sino Land

30/10/2013 01:14

HONG KONG, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Hong Kong shares may start weaker on Wednesday, with turnover crimped ahead of the outcome of a U.S. Federal Reserve policy meeting later in the day. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China  1398.HK , Agricultural Bank of China  1288.HK , Bank of China  3988.HK , Bank of Communication  3328.HK  and China Minsheng Bank 1988.HK  are among companies due to report quarterly earnings later on Wednesday. On Tuesday, the Hang Seng Index  .HSI  rose 0.2 percent to 22,846.5 points, while the China Enterprises Index  .HSCE  of the leading Chinese listings in Hong Kong climbed 1.3 percent.  Elsewhere in Asia, Japan's Nikkei  .N225  was up 0.9 percent, while South Korea's KOSPI  .KS11  was down 0.4 percent at 0053 GMT. FACTORS TO WATCH: * A Chinese central bank official speaking at a closed-door meeting with domestic money dealers on Tuesday reassured them that money conditions remain ample and it will keep its short-term monetary operations stable this year, as regulators move to improve communications with investors after short-term rates rose dramatically last week.  ID:nB9N0GR02N  * Asia's largest refiner, Sinopec Corp  0386.HK , posted a 20 percent rise in third-quarter net profit, beating forecasts, boosted by higher refining margins after China allowed domestic fuel prices to move more closely in line with global crude prices.  ID:nL3N0II0T0  * PetroChina Co Ltd  601857.SS  said net profit attributable to shareholders for the first three quarters was at 95.29 billion yuan versus 86.95 billion yuan last year. ID:nWNBS0077F      * Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group Ltd  1929.HK  said it expected net profit to have increased significantly in the six months ended Sept. 30 compared with a year earlier, helped by strong sales of gold products.  ID:nWNBS0078O  * China Citic Bank Corp Ltd  601998.SS  0998.HK  said its January-September net profit rose 13.4 percent year-on-year to 30.9 billion yuan ($5.1 billion).  ID:nL3N0IJ37J  * China Merchants Bank Co Ltd  3968.HK  600036.SS  said its January-September net interest income increased 10.3 percent to 72.6 billion yuan and net profit attributable to shareholders rose 13.6 percent to 39.5 billion yuan.  ID:nWNBS00784  * Haitong Securities Co Ltd  600837.SS  6837.HK  said its January-September net profit was up 51.3 percent year-on-year at 3.7 billion yuan ($608 million).  ID:nL3N0IJ38H  * Datang International Power Generation Co Ltd  601991.SS  0991.HK  said nine-month net profit jumped 103.6 percent year-on-year to 3.7 billion yuan ($608 million) due to lower operational costs.  ID:nL3N0IJ38B  * Air China Ltd  0753.HK  601111.SS , the country's flag carrier, reported a 7.3 percent fall in its third-quarter profit as a slowing economy hurt business travel.  ID:nL3N0IJ11F  * Esprit Holdings Ltd  0330.HK  said it has appointed Rafael Pastor Espuch as its new chief product officer. It also said total turnover for three months ended in September was HK$6.55 billion versus HK$6.60 billion a year earlier, with retail turnover falling 1.2 percent to HK$3.57 billion.  ID:nL3N0IJ3GI  ID:nWNBS0078E  * Jiangxi Copper  0358.HK  600362.SS , China's top producer of the metal, does not expect to increase its output of refined copper in 2014 even though it has the capacity, an executive from its listed unit said on Tuesday, blaming a shortage of scrap material.  ID:nL3N0IJ2NC  (Reporting by Clement Tan and Donny Kwok; Editing by Chris Gallagher) ((clement.tan@thomsonreuters.com)(+852 2843-6392)(Reuters Messaging: clement.tan.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) Keywords: MARKETS HONGKONG STOCKS/PREOPEN