HK dollar in a tight range

Hong Kong dollar was trapped in a narrow range on Thursday amid a decline in the stock market and weakness in the US dollar.

The local currency was trading at 7.8008/10 per dollar at 0908 GMT, barely changed from late Wednesday trade in Asia. It had touched a high of 7.7994 early in the morning.

The US dollar has been under pressure due to concerns about the US economy after the Federal Reserve cut its 2008 growth forecast.

SCB eyes India listing

Standard Chartered Bank Plc (SCB) is looking at listing on the Indian stock exchanges.

The Asia-focused bank has already sounded out the market regulator, and it could well be the first multinational to issue Indian Depositary Receipts, unidentified sources in India said.

"In the long run, a listing may give the bank more room to pursue M&A deals in India when the market opens up," the sources said.

A planned policy review in 2009 is expected to ease controls for foreign banks in India.

Standard Chartered, which recently sold its Indian asset management business for $205 million, acquired 49 percent in broking firm UTI Securities last year.

SCB said it would raise its holding to 74 percent by May in the venture, which has been renamed Standard Chartered STCI Capital Markets Ltd.

$48m shares sale

Zhejiang Glass Co Ltd sold as much as $48 million worth of shares at a 7.8 percent to 14.2 percent discount to the firm's closing price on Wednesday, according to a document sent to investors on Thursday.

The company sold 57.7 million H-shares, or 18 percent of its existing H-share capital, at a price range of HK$6.05 to HK$6.50 per share, in a deal handled by Cazenove Asia.

The firm has an option to increase the size to 64.2 million H-shares, or 20 percent of existing H-share capital, the document said.

Reuters

(HK Edition 05/23/2008 page2)