HONG KONG, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Hong Kong stocks will likely trade in a narrow range on Wednesday, tracking Wall Street's flat finish on Tuesday as investors await the outcome of the U.S. elections and the meeting of the Federal Reserve next week.
"People are still loaded with cash and they want to buy something, but they are quite cautious," said Alex Wong, director at Ample Finance Corp. "We are approaching the mid-term elections in the U.S. and will probably have details of the long awaited quantitative easing, that is why people are a bit cautious. Of course, the market is at a relatively high level and bound for a correction."
The Fed is likely to announce next week a programme of U.S. Treasury bond purchases worth a few hundred billion dollars over several months, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. [ID:nTKW007152]
On Tuesday, the Hang Seng Index <.HSI> ended down 0.1 percent at 23,601.24.
The Hang Seng Index is trading at a forward 12-month price-to-earnings multiple of 12.7, the highest since April this year, according to Thomson Reuters data.
Elsewhere in Asia, Japan's Nikkei <.N225> rose 0.6 percent and South Korea's KOSPI <.KS11> was up 0.2 percent as of 0110 GMT.
STOCKS TO WATCH:
-Beijing Capital International Airport Co Ltd <0694.HK> said it had agreed to sell 5 billion yuan ($751 million) worth of new shares to its parent to repay debt. [ID:nTOE69Q00I]
-Singapore's Suntec REIT
-UC Rusal Ltd <0486.HK> said earnings per share for the first six months should be $0.09, rather than $0.08, due to understatements from associate firms. For details, click http://www.hkexnews.hk/listedco/listconews/sehk/20101027/LTN20101027031.pdf
-Xtep International Holdings Ltd <1368.HK> said it was selling 108 million shares at HK$6.67 each in a deal arranged by JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs. http://www.hkexnews.hk/listedco/listconews/sehk/20101027/LTN20101027003.pdf
-National Investments Fund Ltd <1227.HK> said it was placing as much as 189.3 million shares, or 20 percent of its existing share capital, at HK$0.43 each. http://www.hkexnews.hk/listedco/listconews/sehk/20101026/LTN20101026557.pdf
-ZTE Corp <0763.HK>, China's second-biggest telecoms equipment maker, plans to buy $3 billion worth of gear from U.S. vendors, including Texas Instruments and Qualcomm.[ID: nTOE69P06Z]
-China Environmental Resources Group Ltd <1130.HK> said its board meeting would be postponed to Oct. 28, pending approval of its final results for the year ended June 20. ----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 2308 GMT ------------
INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG
S&P 500 <.SPX> 1185.64 0% 0.020
USD/JPY
MARKET SUMMARY * Wall St flat before Fed action, US elections [.N] * Dollar gains broadly, euro stalls below $1.40 [USD/] * Prices fall ahead of govt debt supply [US/] * Gold ends flat as inverse link with dollar weakens [GOL/] * Oil up slightly on growing US consumer confidence [O/R] (Reporting by Jun Ebias and Daisy Ku; Editing by Chris Lewis)