Hong Kong stocks rose 0.6 percent on Tuesday, tracking firmer regional markets, with Sun Hung Kai Properties gaining as the board held a meeting centred on a family feud that has hurt the company's share price.
China Blue Chemical, an affiliate of, surged 6.26 percent to HK$5.43 after the country's top producer of nitrogen fertilisers told Reuters it planned to nearly triple its production capacity by 2011 through growth and acquisitions. CNOOC, China's top offshore oil and gas producer, rose 2.4 percent. "Investors were selectively buying good quality market laggards," said Andrew To, sales director at Tai Fook Securities.
"Cautious investors took to the sidelines, hoping for clues from overseas markets, in particular for hints on oil prices and further policy-related announcements from the Chinese government." Renewed worries over inflation in China and the health of the global economy amid high oil prices had capped the upside for stocks, brokers said.
The benchmark Hang Seng Index had risen 0.61 percent to 24,274.62 by midday, lifted by a 1.3 percent gain in Sun Hung Kai Properties. The property group held a board meeting on Tuesday morning after chairman Walter Kwok failed to block the board from voting on whether to oust him amid a power struggle with his brothers.
The China Enterprises Index of Hong Kong-listed mainland companies, or H shares, rose 0.91 percent to 13,341.43.Mainboard turnover fell to HK$27.51 billion ($3.5 billion) from HK$43.29 billion by midday on Monday.
Shares of Asia's top refiner, Sinopec Corp, fell 0.43 percent. Sinopec received a 7.1 billion yuan ($1.02 billion) government subsidy in April to offset its processing losses, Xinhua said on Tuesday. Another laggard was China's top electronics retailer GOME Electrical Appliances, which fell 1.86 percent ahead of the release of its first-quarter profit due later on Tuesday.
But Shaw Brothers rose 2.71 percent and its broadcasting unit, TVB, gained 1.93 percent. The chairman of China's Country Garden Holdings has agreed to pay $1.3 billion for 26 percent of Hong Kong's TVB, beating Blackstone and Carlyle to a coveted stake in Hong Kong's main broadcaster, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.
Shanghai Industrial Holdings jumped 4 percent after the Shanghai municipal-backed conglomerate said it would see a HK$325 million gain from the sale of its 20 percent stake in non-core information technology development and consultancy services joint venture in the mainland to the company's major shareholder for HK$775 million. Tsingtao Brewery Co rose 2.87 percent after the brewer said it would buy from its substantial shareholder remaining interests in 24 subsidiaries and a 100 percent stake in two other firms for a total of 102.83 million yuan.
Shares of SOHO China climbed 4 percent after the property developer said it would buy Chaoyangmen SOHO, a commercial property development project in Beijing, and entire interest and debt in Beijing Kaiheng Real Estate Co in a deal worth 5.5 billion yuan, a move to tap the continuing growth of the mainland property market.