HONG KONG, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Hong Kong stocks are set to open higher on Thursday as investor sentiment improves on gains in overseas markets, with index heavy weights such as HSBC Holdings Plc and China Mobile Ltd poised to lead the way.
Wall Street posted its best session in eight weeks on Wednesday after better-than-expected factory data from the United States and China. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 2.54 percent, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 2.95 percent, and the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 2.97 percent.
"The blue-chip index could test an upside at 20,900," said Patrick Yiu, a director at CASH Asset Management, adding that the market's next move would depend on how funds flowed.
On Wednesday, the benchmark Hang Seng Index ended up 0.43 percent at 20,623.83, bouncing off technical support around 20,550 that has held firm in recent sessions.
In the region, Japan's Nikkei rose 0.84 percent while South Korea's KOSPI was up 0.57 percent.
Ping An Insurance (group) Co of China is set to attract market attention as it resumes trading after a deal to buy a controlling stake of a Chinese bank, while fashion group Esprit Holdings Ltd is due to announce its earnings later on Thursday.
STOCKS TO WATCH:
- Ping An Insurance, the world's second-biggest insurer, had agreed to buy a further 32 percent of Shenzhen Development Bank for 29.1 billion yuan ($4.3 billion) giving it a controlling stake in the Chinese lender, Ping An said in a statement on Wednesday.
- Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings Ltd (CKI) said it was looking at more than 10 projects in Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand, after it struck a $9 billion deal to buy Britain's biggest power network.
- Taiwan's Fubon Financial put its name forward on Wednesday as a possible buyer of American International Group Inc's (AIG) Taiwan unit after Taiwan's regulator decided on Tuesday to block the sale of Nan Shan Life to China Strategic Holdings Ltd and financial firm Primus.
- Australian energy company Santos Ltd plans to raise up to A$2 billion ($1.8 billion) in a rights issue to fund its $15 billion Gladstone liquefied natural gas project, The Australian newspaper said. Santos would launch the issue after completing gas and equity-stake sales with state-run Korea Gas Corp and China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (Sinopec).
- Guangzhou R&F Properties Co Ltd said in a statement on Wednesday that contracted sales in August totalled 3.059 billion yuan, up 45 percent from a year earlier, and that it was confident of fulfilling its full-year target. (Reporting by Donny Kwok; Editing by Chris Lewis)