Hong Kong stocks are expected to edge higher on Monday to a near two-month high, as the appetite for risky assets stays steady after JP Morgan's
quarterly earnings report lifted Wall Street on Friday.

Strong portfolio flows and greater retail investor interest in heavyweight financial shares lifted Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index .HSI 2.5 percent last week to make it the top performing major Asian market over the period.

Financials will again be in focus after China's central bank, acting after the markets had closed, raised bank required reserves by 50 basis points. It was the seventh increase since early 2010 and Beijing's latest step to mop up excess cash in the economy after annual inflation hit a 28-month high of 5.1 percent in November.

Elsewhere in Asia, Japan's Nikkei .N225 was up 0.4 percent while South Korea's KOSPI .KS11 had gained 0.2 percent as of 0115 GMT.

STOCKS TO WATCH:

* Dalian Port (PDA) Co Ltd (2880.HK) said on Friday that total container throughput for 2010 rose 12.7 percent to 6.18 million TEUs, and oil and liquefied chemicals throughput rose 9.4 percen to 43.55 million tonnes.

* Li Ning Co Ltd (2331.HK) said on Monday that same-stores sales growth for Li-Ning branded products increased 3.6 percent in the fourth-quarter of 2010, and was up about 3.9 percent for 2010. It estimated that revenue growth for Li-Ning branded products for 2010 would be broadly in line with the China sporting goods industry, but new store openings fell short of the target set at the beginning of 2010.

* Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd (1398.HK) will more than double the number of branches in Europe in coming weeks to expand its global footprint, the Wall Street Journal reported in its online edition on Sunday.

* Hopson Development Holdings Ltd (0754.HK) said it would issue $300 million 11.75 percent senior notes due 2016, raising capital for general corporate purposes and for future property developments needs.

* Zijin Mining Group Co Ltd (2899.HK) estimated net profit attributable to equity holders for 2010 would be between 4.6 billion and 5 billion yuan, an increase of 30 to 40 percent from a year before.

* Sunac China Holdings Ltd (1918.HK) said it would buy a residential and commerical site in China's Chongqing for 970 million yuan.

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