Hong Kong shares higher in early trade on bargain-hunting

HONG KONG (Thomson Financial) - Hong Kong shares were firmer in early trade on Monday, tracking the Shanghai bourse in the absence of a lead from Wall Street, with investors encouraged to pick up bargains due to strong first-half earnings forecasts by some Chinese banks. Wall Street was closed on Friday for a public holiday. The Hang Seng index was last up 0.4 percent at 21,511.87 in early deals, after opening flat. The Shanghai market was up 2.3 percent at 2,732.24. 'There's a bit of an upside here, thanks to the Shanghai market, which rebounded from last week's fall,' said Castor Pang, research head at Sun Hung Kai Financial. 'It also helps that Chinese banks firmed due to strong first-half forecasts,' he said. China Merchants Bank and China Citic joined Industrial and Commercial Bank of China in predicting strong results... [read full story]