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Fri Jun 1, 2012 1:10am EDT (Updates to midday) * Hang Seng Index firms 0.1 percent, * Shanghai Composite up 0.4 pct, CSI300 up 0.6 pct * Sands China to join HSI effective after market close * Softer crude oil prices help refiners, hit CNOOC * Chalco down 3.6 pct on aluminum output cut, JPM downgrade By Vikram Subhedar HONG KONG, June 1 (Reuters) - Hong Kong shares edged higher on Friday largely on short-covering in financials, although disappointing manufacturing data from China kept most cyclical sectors such as materials and mining companies weak. Two surveys that pointed to sluggish Chinese factory activity in May signalled a deeper-than-forecast deterioration in demand at home and abroad, but also increased the likelihood of further policy easing. The Hang Seng Index, which opened weaker on the day, was up 0.14 percent at the midday trading break. The slim gain did little to excite investors after last month'...

ChinaFotoPress | Getty Images China's official purchasing managers' index (PMI) fell to 50.4 in May, the weakest reading this year and down from April's 13-month high in the latest sign that output in the world's second biggest economy is cooling. The news sent Australian stocks and the Aussie dollar lower, as the commodity-rich country counts China as its biggest trading partner. Economists polled by Reuters this week had expected the official PMI to retreat to 52.2 for May, from 53.3 in April. "This data shows the speed of growth has shown some moderation, but the index has been above 50 for six months which means the growth momentum hasn't changed," the National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement accompanying the index. "The present short term moderation in growth does not mean the Chinese economy is entering a new recession," it added. The HSBC China Flash PMI, which gave an earlier glimpse of activity in Chi...

BEIJING | Thu May 31, 2012 11:33pm EDT BEIJING (Reuters) - China aims to boost domestic demand to keep the economy on a sound footing this year, a top government official said on Friday, amid expectations that the government will unveil more stimulus measures to combat a slowdown. "We will ensure sound and fast economic growth this year," Du Ying, vice chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China's most powerful economic planner, told a news conference. But Du said the pace of economic growth, which is set to slow for a sixth consecutive quarter due to slackening demand at home and abroad, is still "within expectations". Global markets were rife with speculation this week that China is about to unveil another round of fiscal stimulus to steady the world's No. 2 economy as Europe sinks deeper into its debt quagmire. The government has been fast tracking infrastructure and industri...

BEIJING | Thu May 31, 2012 11:12pm EDT BEIJING (Reuters) - China has not told banks to speed up lending and will set credit policy in line with economic conditions, a vice chairman of the country's banking regulator said in remarks published on Friday, as fresh data raised fears that business activity may be cooling faster than expected. China has increased its policy emphasis on supporting growth recently, fast tracking infrastructure investment and providing subsidies for consumption, fuelling speculation that Beijing may be eyeing another fiscally-led lending spree, like the 4 trillion ($635 billion) stimulus adopted to combat the last global financial crisis. "The China Banking Regulatory Commission has always been doing what it is told to from above. We are all still watching changes and there is no conclusion yet," CBRC vice chairman Cai Esheng said, when asked if China would relax mortgage policies. China tightened ho...

A worker checks a shipment of copper inside the plant at the copper refinery of Codelco Ventanas in Ventanas city, about 164 km (101 miles) northwest of Santiago, April 16, 2012. Credit: Reuters/Eliseo Fernandez SHANGHAI | Thu May 31, 2012 10:43pm EDT SHANGHAI (Reuters) - London copper rose on Friday, supported by short covering after prices hit the lowest level of the year in the prior session and as investors had priced in disappointing Chinese manufacturing data in the world's biggest consumer of the metal. Gains were likely to be limited, however, due to concerns over the European debt crisis, which has escalated in recent weeks on the prospect that Greece could exit the euro zone and on worries over Spain's shaky finances. FUNDAMENTALS Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange lifted 0.6 percent to $7,466.75 a metric ton (1.1023 tons) by 9.46 a.m. EDT, after sinking to its lowest level price of $7,403 in 2012 ...

1 of 10. A graph is seen above a worker as he puts the finishing touches to a stage decoration for an investment funds awards dinner at the Madrid stock exchange May 17, 2012. Credit: Reuters/Paul Hanna By Chikako Mogi TOKYO | Thu May 31, 2012 10:04pm EDT TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares and the euro extended losses on Friday as China's factory activity data delivered its weakest reading this year, highlighting concerns the worsening euro zone debt crisis will further undermine global economic growth. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS fell 1 percent after ending May with a 10.9 percent slide for its worst monthly performance in eight months. Shares in Australia .AXJO, which is highly dependent on demand from China, the world's second-largest economy, also slipped 1 percent, while the euro touched a fresh 23-month low against the dollar as the weak Chinese data dampened ris...

ChinaFotoPress | Getty Images China's official purchasing managers' index (PMI) fell to 50.4 in May, the weakest reading this year and down from April's 13-month high in the latest sign that output in the world's second biggest economy is cooling. The news sent Australian stocks and the Aussie dollar lower, as the commodity-rich country counts China as its biggest trading partner. Economists polled by Reuters this week had expected the official PMI to retreat to 52.2 for May, from 53.3 in April. "This data shows the speed of growth has shown some moderation, but the index has been above 50 for six months which means the growth momentum hasn't changed," the National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement accompanying the index. "The present short term moderation in growth does not mean the Chinese economy is entering a new recession," it added. The HSBC China Flash PMI, which gave an earlier glimpse of activity in Chi...

June 1 (Bloomberg) -- China's economic slowdown is rippling through Hong Kong, with the city's retail sales rising at the slowest pace since 2009 as shoppers from the mainland curb their spending. Sales increased 11.4 percent in April from a year earlier, the government said in a statement on its website yesterday. That's the smallest annual gain since October 2009, excluding January and February numbers distorted by the Lunar New Year holiday. The median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of economists was for a 16.4 percent increase. China's economy is cooling as Premier Wen Jiabao extends a crackdown on speculation in the housing market and Europe's sovereign-debt crisis caps exports. In Hong Kong, declines in the benchmark Hang Seng Index since the end of February have damped confidence and demand as households see the value of their assets dwindle. "Less extravagant spending by mainland shoppers is part of the issue," said Donna Kwok, a Hong ...

MANILA â€" In tropical waters off the coast of the Philippines , a standoff between half a dozen Chinese fishing boats, two Chinese law enforcement vessels and an aging Philippine Navy ship recently attracted a lot of attention in Washington, Beijing and other capitals across Asia. Agence France-Presse â€" Getty Images China National Offshore Oil Corporation’s first deep-water oil drilling rig debarking last month. Superficially, the squabble was over some rare corals, clams and poached sharks that Philippine Navy seamen were trying to retrieve in early April from the fishing boats operating in the Scarborough Shoal of the South China Sea until two Chinese Marine Surveillance craft intervened. After two tense days, the Philippine ship â€" a refitted Coast Guard cutter sent by the United States last year to beef up its ally’s weak defenses â€" withdrew. But the stakes were much larger, as the insistent claims ever since of sovereignty ...

A sure sign of Chinese concern about their economy is the flurry of announcements about growth. China must give “more priority to maintaining growth,” Premier Wen Jiabao said on May 20. “Key infrastructure projects” will be sped up, the State Council announced on May 23. “China is making all-out efforts to encourage private investment,” reported the official Xinhua News Agency on May 28. More stimulus for China? The last program was launched just over three years ago. “Until recently, most officials felt there was no need to do more than push down gently on the accelerator,” wrote Mark Williams, chief Asia economist at consultants Capital Economics in a May 24 note. No longer. The economy expanded 8.1 percent in the first quarter. Credit Suisse ( CS ) now expects China to grow at 7 percent or less this quarter. If Greece quits the euro and China fails to deliver on stimulus, the mainland’s growth could slow to 6.4 percent this year, warned local investm...

By Paul Panckhurst - 2012-05-31T18:25:33Z China ’s economic slowdown is rippling through Hong Kong , with the city’s retail sales rising at the slowest pace since 2009 as shoppers from the mainland curb their spending. Sales increased 11.4 percent in April from a year earlier, the government said in a statement on its website yesterday. That’s the smallest annual gain since October 2009, excluding January and February numbers distorted by the Lunar New Year holiday. The median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of economists was for a 16.4 percent increase. China’s economy is cooling as Premier Wen Jiabao extends a crackdown on speculation in the housing market and Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis caps exports. In Hong Kong, declines in the benchmark Hang Seng Index since the end of February have damped confidence and demand as households see the value of their assets dwindle. “Less extravagant spending by mainland shoppers is part of the issue,” said Don...

At the Temple of the God of the Capital in Beijing, Gao Puer sits on a bench under a tree playing poker on his Lenovo touchscreen smartphone. “I use my phone to download maps and e-books, too,” says the electrical engineer. “Most of the apps I get are free, but some of the games are worth it to pay a few yuan.” A few blocks away, Wei Xinping kills time while waiting for his girlfriend by playing Angry Birds on a handset made by Huawei Technologies. “I like to relax after work or on the weekends,” says the banker. Both gadgets are powered by Google’s ( GOOG ) Android operating system, but the apps come from China Mobile ( CHL ) . And therein lies a painful dilemma for Google. Android runs two-thirds of the smartphones sold in the world’s biggest Internet market, yet the company’s online app store, Google Play, isn’t open for business in China. Google sharply scaled back its presence on the mainland in 2010 after tussling with China’s censors. Taj Meadows, a T...

Thu May 31, 2012 4:32pm EDT * China's Commerce Minister Chen says to "exercise restraint" * EU companies currently vulnerable to retaliation * EU trade ministers discuss new ways to protect against dumping By Robin Emmott and Sebastian Moffett BRUSSELS, May 31 (Reuters) - China sought on Thursday to defuse a deepening trade conflict over accusations that it subsidises hi-tech firms exporting to Europe, as EU trade ministers met to discuss a new tactic against Chinese companies seen as trading unfairly. Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming, on a visit to Brussels, said Beijing would seek to "exercise restraint in trade remedy measures", saying he wanted to see more European hi-tech exports to China. EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht, who diplomats say is considering action against China's top telecoms gear makers Huawei and ZTE Corp, said he wanted to agree "conciliatory practices" but a...

SHANGHAIâ€"China's pledge to give private capital real access to the nation's lucrative banking sector has triggered more skepticism than excitement, with analysts saying entry barriers remain firmly in place. As part of Beijing's broad campaign to boost a slowing economy, government arms from the railways ministry to the banking and securities regulators have unveiled measures aimed at encouraging more investment by private businesses in sectors traditionally dominated by the state. The bank regulator's steps include allowing private firms to own more than 20% of a regional lender, permitting microfinancing firms to be restructured into banks and lowering the threshold for setting up rural banks. Although China's state media cheered the measures as a crucial step in breaking the state's near-monopoly in banking, private entrepreneurs and financial experts were less enthusiastic. "The so-called reform doesn't include anything substantial,...

China eyes wide open spaces Lauren Quaintance June 01, 2012 CHINA would invest billions of dollars to transform vast tracts of undeveloped land in northern Australia for farming, under a plan confirmed yesterday by the federal government. But opponents said an ''Asia food bowl'' would come at the expense of giving Australians access to affordable, good-quality food. Trade and Competitiveness Minister Craig Emerson confirmed that the government was undertaking a joint study with Beijing to examine the policy changes needed for a massive investment by Chinese agricultural interests. Dr Emerson has denied that this means there are plans to ''buy up the farm'' and use imported labour to produce food for the voracious Chinese market, with its 1.3 billion citizens. ''It is designed to lift Australian food production for world markets,'' he said. The revelation, in advance of an official report expected midyear, has caused some...

Less than three months ago, Beijing announced a new 7.5% growth target, signaling its willingness to tolerate a slowdown for the sake of necessary reforms. Those were the days. Over the past week it has become clear that China's planners have loosened their purse strings, although not to the extent beleaguered investors had hoped. Apparently the Communist Party is losing its nerve. Today's stimulus is a pale shade of the 2008 version. The government is expected to sanction projects worth up to two trillion yuan ($315 billion). That compares to the estimated 20 trillion yuan in central- and local-government spending and politically allocated bank credit Beijing used to keep China from succumbing to the global crisis four years ago. The National Development and Reform Commission has accelerated approval of infrastructure projects, and the government will invest in several favored industriesâ€"such as pouring $20 billion into new steel plants despite current chronic o...

BEIJING- China on Thursday urged the world to give UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan's peace plan for Syria more time to work, saying there could not be instant solutions to such a complex crisis. "China believes that the situation in Syria currently is certainly very complex and serious," Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin told a daily news briefing. "But at the same time, we believe that Annan's mediation efforts have been effective and we ought to have even more faith in him and give him more support," he added. "... It is a problem that has been brewing for quite some time now, and its resolution needs a certain amount of time. I do not think that Annan's mediation efforts will be all plain sailing, and there will be reversals and complications." China has repeatedly voiced fears that more forceful international intervention in Syria could exacerbate the violence, or open the way for Western-led regime change. On Wednesday, Chinese Foreign...

C hinese police reportedly have detained hundreds of people as part of a security lockdown in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, after two people set themselves on fire there earlier this week to protest Chinese rule. The U.S. government-backed Radio Free Asia cited a local source late Wednesday as saying that Chinese authorities have locked up about 600 Tibetan residents.  It said many others from outside the Tibetan Autonomous Region have been expelled. On Sunday, two young men set themselves on fire outside Lhasa's famous Jokhang Temple, in the first such incident to take place in the heavily guarded Tibetan capital.  State media say one of the protesters died at the scene, while the other was hospitalized. The crackdown comes as exile groups reported Wednesday that a mother of three young children in a largely Tibetan area of southwestern China died after setting herself on fire, in an another apparent protest against Chinese rule. The protester, identified as Rikyo, 33, died in f...

Zhu Jun, owner of Shanghai Shenhua football club, reacts after missing a goal during a friendly match against Argentina CN Sports in Shanghai ( CARLOS BARRIA, REUTERS / May 31 , 2012 ) Royston Chan Reuters 7:43 a.m. CDT , May 31, 2012 SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Shanghai Shenhua's flamboyant owner Zhu Jun fielded himself alongside striker Nicolas Anelka during a friendly match on Thursday. The 45-year-old Chinese internet tycoon donned the number 11 jersey and played for the first half of the game against Argentina CN Sports Football Club in a frontline partnership with Anelka. Zhu stole the limelight from newly appointed head coach Sergio Batista, the former Argentina manager who did not take charge of the game and instead chose to watch from the terraces. The partnership with former France international Anelka ended when Zhu was substituted at halftime after missing some good chances. The game ended 1-1 with Anelka having a penalty saved in the second half. Ba...

(Updates with closing prices throughout.) May 31 (Bloomberg) -- While the Chinese government is vowing not to spend as it did during the 2008 global financial crisis, the most accurate analysts say the benchmark index for the nation's stocks will keep rising. The Shanghai Composite Index is poised to gain 15 percent from yesterday's close to 2,750 by year-end as slowing inflation allows the government to loosen monetary policy and banks to lend more to companies, according to Beijing Gao Hua Securities Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc.'s partner in China and the firm with the most correct predictions for yuan-denominated A shares in the two years to January 2012, based on Bloomberg Rankings. The benchmark stock index has climbed 7.9 percent this year on speculation the government will accelerate measures to boost the world's second-biggest economy after gross domestic product grew at the slowest quarterly pace since 2009. The government said on May 29 it has no plan...

By Tarek Amara HAMMAMET, Tunisia | Thu May 31, 2012 7:57am EDT HAMMAMET, Tunisia (Reuters) - Senior Arab officials pressed China on Thursday to use its influence to help stop the violence in Syria. China, along with Russia, has blocked efforts to take more robust action against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the United Nations Security Council, but pressure for a firm response has grown since the massacre last week of over 100 people in the town of Houla. "We greatly respect the efforts of China to find a solution in Syria," Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled al-Sabah said on the sidelines of an Arab-China cooperation forum in the Tunisian town of Hammamet. "But we hope it will redouble this effort to stop the machine of violence and death and to put more pressure on the Syrian government to respect its commitments under the Annan plan," he said, referring to a peace plan proposed by U.N.-Arab League...