HONG KONG, June 15 (Reuters) - Hong Kong shares are seen hovering on Monday amid a lack of fresh evidence of a recovery in the global economy and lower crude oil prices.
Ping An Insurance (Group) will be in focus after the insurer on Friday said it would buy out Newbridge Capital's stake in mid-sized lender Shenzhen Development Bank for 11.45 billion yuan ($1.68 billion) in cash or via a share swap.
Ping An, the world's second-largest insurer by market value and keen to build itself into a financial conglomerate, will pay up to 10.7 billion yuan for up to 585 million shares in Shenzhen Bank in a private share placement, leaving it with a stake of as much as 30 percent.
Shares in Ping An will resume trading on Monday after being suspended since June 8.
Citigroup downgraded the stock to a "hold" rating from "buy" following the deal announcement.
"Ping An's immediate intention to keep at just under a 30 percent stake is, in our opinion, a defensive move by the group that appears not to have added great value to its current banking aspiration," said Bob Leung, analyst with Citigroup, in a note to investors.
The benchmark Hang Seng Index gained 0.5 percent, rising for a third straight day on Friday, helped by data from China and U.S.
STOCKS TO WATCH-
* Integrated property developer Beijing Capital Land over the weekend said it had bought a 23,000 square metre land site in Beijing for commercial and residential use for 340 million yuan. The company said it would continue to increase its land bank through auction and acquisitions in a bid to secure land resources amid intense competition for land in China.
* China Eastern Airlines late on Sunday said it was planning a restructuring and considering proposals for lowering its gearing ratio further. Trading in the shares will remain suspended pending a further statement. For statement please click http://www.hkexnews.hk/listedco/listconews/sehk/20090614/LTN20090614017.pdf
* Property company Poly (Hong Kong) Investments said it would sell 230 million shares at a 7.26 percent discount at HK$3.45 each to a major shareholder, raising HK$776 million to fund investments, including building up its land bank, and for general corporate purposes.
BOC International and Citigroup Global Markets are the placing agents. Trading in the shares will resume on Monday. For statement please click http://www.hkexnews.hk/listedco/listconews/sehk/20090614/LTN20090614012.pdf
* Developers spent 15.92 billion yuan in May to buy land in 12 main Chinese cities, the biggest single monthly investment sum since January, the South China Morning Post reported citing data from property agent Centaline China. ----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 2243 GMT ------------
INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG
S&P 500 <.SPX> 946.21 0.14% 1.320
USD/JPY
MARKETS SUMMARY *Oil falls on stronger dollar, profit-taking [nLC158279] *Defensives lift Dow, S&P; tech weighs on Nasdaq [nN1284396] *Dollar rebounds broadly, weak data hurts euro [nN1269110] *Treasuries rise in post-auction relief trade [nN12447706]
(Reporting by Parvathy Ullatil; Editing by Chris Lewis)