HONG KONG, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Hong Kong shares are seen gaining on Friday after U.S. manufacturing data reassured investors that a global economic recovery was underway but the upside may be limited by worries over widely-speculated monetary tightening in China.
China's new bank loans will rebound to about 500 billion yuan ($73 billion) in August after shrinking to 356 billion yuan in July, but banks will continue to curb lending in the second half, the official China Securities Journal said on Friday, citing an unnamed source.
New bank lending slowed sharply in July from the heated pace of the first half, with 1.53 trillion yuan in new loans in June alone.
Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd (ICBC), posted a flat second-quarter profit as shrinking margins watered down the impact of a surge in lending. But the world's biggest bank by market value beat expectations and said the deterioration in loan margins was easing.
The benchmark Hang Seng Index finished 1.7 percent higher at 20,328.86 on Thursday, bouncing off a one-month closing low in the previous session.
STOCKS TO WATCH-
* China Mobile, the world's largest mobile carrier, will develop smartphones with Taiwan's HTC Corp to compete with Apple Inc's iPhone, Taiwan media reported on Friday.
China Mobile will launch its Ophone running on the OMS (Open Mobile System) platform with HTC, the Economic Daily reported, citing China Mobile Chairman Wang Jianzhou.
* Hang Seng Bank, Hong Kong's fourth-largest lender, is considering an A-share listing in mainland China and issuing yuan-denominated bonds, Friday's official Shanghai Securities News quoted its chief executive as saying.
Hang Seng Bank, 62 percent controlled by HSBC Holdings Plc, has been seeking investment opportunities in China's banking, insurance, property and other sectors, including acquisitions and joint venture opportunities, the paper quoted Vice-Chairman and Chief Executive Margaret Leung as saying.
* Chinese department store operator Maoye International said on Friday that its first-half net profit fell 19 percent to 243.6 million yuan, while total sales rose 9.4 percent and same-store sales were up 0.6 percent as China's economy gradually stabilised with domestic demand picking up and consumer confidence returning in the first half of 2009. It expects domestic demand and consumer confidence to improve further in the remainder year. For statement please click http://www.hkexnews.hk/listedco/listconews/sehk/20090821/LTN20090821002.pdf
* Shui On Construction said on late on Thursday it would buy a partially completed property development in Beijing's Chaoyang District from Pacific Century Premium Developments, a unit of PCCW for US$118 million, a deal to further strengthen its portfolio of property projects. For statement please click http://www.hkexnews.hk/listedco/listconews/sehk/20090820/LTN20090820505.pdf
PCCW said it expects to see a gain of HK$235 million before tax on completion of the deal. For statement please click http://www.hkexnews.hk/listedco/listconews/sehk/20090820/LTN20090820501.pdf
* Property firm Sinolink Worldwide Holdings said it expected to see at least a 500 percent rise in first-half profit, against its HK$74.6 million profit a year earlier, due to significant growth in sales of properties. For statement please click http://www.hkexnews.hk/listedco/listconews/sehk/20090820/LTN20090820450.pdf
* China Unicom recorded a net additions of 0.68 million new GSM cellular service subscribers in month of July, bringing the aggregate number of GSM cellular service subscribers to 141.057 million. For statement please click http://www.hkexnews.hk/listedco/listconews/sehk/20090820/LTN20090820164.pdf (Reporting by Parvathy Ullatil; Editing by Chris Lewis)