HK shares seen lower on earnings worries; autos eyed

HONG KONG, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Hong Kong shares are seen
lower on Thursday with concerns over earnings at banks driving
down HSBC (0005.HK) again after the stock hit a seven-year low
in the previous session.

A Morgan Stanley earnings downgrade sent HSBC shares
tumbling 4.1 percent in Hong Kong and 8 percent in London. The
U.S. investment house said the UK-based lender may need $20
billion to $30 billion to shore up its capital.

Worries about steep losses at banks worldwide and poor
retail sales data also sent U.S. stocks to six-week lows on
Wednesday.

Investors will watch refinery stocks after China, in a
surprise move, decided to trim gasoline and diesel prices by a
few percent on Thursday. This is the first adjustment since
bringing in a new fuel price system last month, a reform that
could see pump prices change much more frequently.

The latest change will cut gasoline price ceilings by 140
yuan ($20.48) per tonne and diesel price ceilings by 160 yuan
($23.41) per tonne from midnight on Wednesday.

The Hang Seng Index .HSI ended Wednesday 0.3 percent
higher at 13,704.61, snapping a six-day slide that wiped out
gains made in its year-end rally.

STOCKS TO WATCH

* Chinese automobile stocks will be eyed after China
unveiled a wide-ranging plan to boost the domestic auto
industry, including halving the sales tax on small cars and
subsidies to encourage car owners to trade their old models for
newer, fuel-efficient ones.

The government said it favoured consolidation of the
sprawling industry and would promote mass production of
electric-powered vehicles.

* Pou Sheng International, a sportswear retailing arm of
Yue Yuen Industrial (0551.HK), said on Thursday it planned to
expand its store network in China via a deal worth about HK$793
million ($101.7 million).

Pou Sheng (3813.HK) said it would buy the 70 percent of
Farsighted International Ltd (FIL) not already owned by the
firm for HK$428.6 million in cash and the issue of 393.6
million new shares at HK$0.925 each.

* China Southern Airlines (600029.SS), the country's
largest carrier by fleet size, estimated on Wednesday that it
would report a loss for 2008.

In a brief statement, the airline cited the slowdowns in
the global and Chinese economies, which cut traffic demand, as
well as high domestic fuel prices during the year.

China Southern, which posted net profit of 1.85 billion
yuan ($271 million) in 2007, will release 2008 earnings in
mid-April. -------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 00:11 GMT
-----------------------

INSTRUMENT   LAST     PCT CH GNET CHG

S&P 500           .SPX       842.62  -3.35%  -29.170

USD/JPY                  89.16    0.17%   0.150

10-YR US TSY YLD    2.206    --      0.000

SPOT GOLD                $812.45  0.23%   1.900

US CRUDE          CLc1       $37.23  -0.13%  -0.050

DOW JONES         .DJI       8200.14 -2.94%  -248.42

ASIA ADRS         .BKAS      87.99   -3.22%  -2.93
 -------------------------------------------------------------
> Wall Street falls on bank anxiety, Apple down after bell 
[.N] > Oil falls on U.S. stock build, weak demand             
 [O/R] > TREASURIES-Prices up as weak retail sales send stocks
down[US/] > Euro down on Greece downgrade, risk appetite fades

[USD/] > Gold falls on weak demand, dollar rise; ECB eyed

[GOL/]
 (Reporting by Parvathy Ullatil; Editing by Clarence
Fernandez)
 (parvathy.ullatil@thomsonreuters.com; +852 2843-6415))

ASIA-PACIFIC STOCK MARKETS:
 Pan-Asia......[STXNEWS/AS]  Japan........[.T]
S.Korea....[.KS]
 S.E. Asia............[.SO]  Hong Kong...[.HK]
Taiwan.....[.TW]
 Australia/NZ.........[.AX]  India.......[.BO] China......[.SS]

OTHER MARKETS:
 Wall Street...........[.N] Gold.........[GOL/]
Currency..[FRX/] Eurostocks...........[.EU] Oil...........[O/R]
JP bonds...[JP/]
 ADR Report..........[ADR/] LME metals..[MET/L] US
bonds...[US/] Stocks News US...[STXNEWS/US] Stocks News
Europe...[STXNEWS/EU]

DIARIES & DATA: IPO diary & data    Asia
earnings diary [ASIA/EQTY] U.S. earnings diary  [RESF/US]
 European diary

[WEU/EQTY]
 Taiwan diary        [TW/DIARY]  Wall Street Week Ahead 
[.N/O]
 Eurostocks Week Ahead  [.EU/O]  World forecasts  EQUITYPOLL1

TOP NEWS:

For top Asian company news, double click on:     
[nTOPEQA]
 U.S. company news    [TOP/EQU]  European company news
[TOP/EQE]
 Forex news           [TOP/FRX]  Global Economy news
[TOP/MACRO]
 Technology news     [TOP/TECH]  Telecoms news     
[TOP/TELCO]
 Media news         [TOP/MEDIA]  Banking news        
[TOP/FIN]
 Politics/General news  [TOP/G]  Asia Macro data   
ASIATODAY