HONG KONG, April 1 (Reuters) - Energy counters led the advance in Hong Kong on Friday, extending gains from the first quarter ahead of the weekend and a public holiday on Tuesday, as investors remained cautious amid multiple lingering risks.
The benchmark Hang Seng Index finished up 1.17 percent at 23,801.9, ending the week 2.8 percent higher. The China Enterprises Index gained 1.02 percent on the day and 3.7 percent on the week.
The Shanghai Composite Index finished up 1.34 percent at 2,967.41, rebounding from a three-day losing streak but not enough to prevent it finishing down 0.3 percent on the week.
HIGHLIGHTS:
* Ping An Insurance (Group) Co of China Ltd led benchmark winners on the day, jumping 4.7 percent on the day. It finished the week up 7.5 percent, shrugging off losses on its sub-par 2010 earnings earlier this week. [ID:nH9E7EL018]
* Led by CNOOC Ltd and PetroChina , the Hang Seng Composite Energy Index finished up 2.65 percent, outperforming the benchmark and extending recent bullishness.
* Investors are favouring traditional energy counters such as oil and coal. A survey conducted last week by Credit Suisse at its Asian Investment Conference showed its 2,000 participants broadly favouring China and energy counters.
* Higher oil prices account for this bullish position, but other fund managers were more cautious, warning that recent oil price rises were due more to unrest in North Africa and the Middle East than increased demand. Slowing Chinese growth would reduce demand, they said.
WEEK AHEAD:
* Hong Kong markets are closed on April 5 for a holiday, and analysts expect volumes to be light on Monday. Markets in China are closed on Monday and Tuesday.
* Commodities giant Glencore met with Hong Kong stock exchange officials on Thursday to request approval for its planned $10 billion float, sources with direct knowledge of the plans told Reuters. But the company is expected to wait until after it receives a formal response from the Hong Kong exchange next week, which usually takes two to three days, before pressing ahead with the main London tranche of the listing.[ID:nLDE72U1W6]
(Reporting by Clement Tan; Editing by Chris Lewis)
ASIA-PACIFIC MARKETS Pan-Asia..... Japan........ S.Korea.... S.E. Asia........... Hong Kong... Taiwan..... Australia/NZ........ India....... China......
OTHER MARKETS: Wall Street.......... Gold......... Currency.. Eurostocks.......... Oil........... JP bonds... ADR Report......... LME metals.. US bonds... Stocks News US.. Stocks News Europe...
DIARIES & DATA: IPO diary & data Asia earnings diary U.S. earnings diary European diary Taiwan diary Wall Street Week Ahead Eurostocks Week Ahead World forecasts
TOP NEWS: For top Asian company news, double click on: U.S. company news European company news Forex news Global Economy news Technology news Telecoms news Media news Banking news Politics/General news Asia Macro data A multimedia version of Reuters Top News is available at: http://topnews.session.rservices.com
LIVE PRICES & DATA: World Stocks <0#.INDEX> Currency rates Dow Jones/NASDAQ Nikkei FTSE 100 Debt <0#USBMK=> Hong Kong Dollar LME price overview