HONG KONG, May 27 (Reuters) – Hong Kong shares could start
the week lower on Monday, tracking Friday’s losses on Wall
Street on concern that the U.S. central bank may consider
reducing monetary stimulus.
The Hang Seng Index slipped 0.2 percent to 22,618.7
points on Friday, its lowest level since April 29. The China
Enterprises Index of the top Chinese listings in Hong
Kong lost 0.2 percent. They were down 2 percent and 2.7 percent
last week, respectively.
Elsewhere in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei was down 3.4
percent, while South Korea’s KOSPI was flat at 0045 GMT.
FACTORS TO WATCH:
* AIA Group, Asia’s No.3 insurer, said Barry
Cheung had resigned from the company’s board just days after
Hong Kong police launched an investigation into the commodities
exchange he founded two years ago.
* Casino operator Sands China Ltd said on Friday
that it had chosen Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu as its new auditor.
* Air China Ltd will pay a basic price
of $8.9 billion for 100 new Airbus aircraft, the
company said in an announcement filed with the Hong Kong stock
exchange on Friday.
* Sinopec subsidiary Addax Petroleum wants to
buy more North Sea assets this year, its chief executive said,
in a sign that Chinese firms may further boost their regional
investments after two multi-billion-dollar deals in 2012.
* Mando China Holdings Ltd, controlled by South
Korean auto parts maker Mando Corp, said on Friday
it had decided to postpone an initial public offering in Hong
Kong because of “adverse market conditions” and “significant
market volatility.”
* HSBC called on regulators to speed up
industry reform as its shareholders urged Europe’s biggest bank
to take a lead in cutting pay and criticised it for compliance
failings and aiding tax avoidance.
* Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical (Group) Co Ltd
said its unit Fosun Industrial Co Ltd would sell its minority
equity interest in Tongjitang Chinese Medicine Company to
optimise deployment of resources.
* Winteam Pharmaceutical Group Ltd, which proposed
to change its name to China Traditional Chinese Medicine Co Ltd,
said it would buy a 100 percent stake of Tongjitang Chinese
Medicine Company from Hanmax Investment Ltd and Fosun Industrial
Co Ltd for 2.64 billion yuan, a deal to be partly settled by the
issue of 334 million new shares to Hanmax at HK$2.8 apiece.(Reporting by Yimou Lee and Donny Kwok; Editing by Stephen
Coates)
