Singapore welcomes Li Ka-shing trust

HONG KONG property developer Cheung Kong, controlled by Asia's richest man, Li Ka-shing, announced today that it will sell five

Singapore commentators welcomed the first locally-listed property trust invested in Hong Kong properties, and praised its auspicious name - Fortune Real Estate Investment Trust - which was considered a lucky omen. However, the luck will not rub off on Hong Kong retail investors, as Cheung Kong said the trust would not be marketed to them.

Cheung Kong will subscribe to between 21.4% and 37.4% of Fortune REIT's units while its sister firm, Hutchison Whampoa, will subscribe to about 12.5%.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong regulators continue to work on rules for a REIT market at home that will not be ready until August. Cheung Kong shares were up 1.88% at HK$48.70.

Lianhua Supermarket Holdings, China's largest retail chain which listed just two weeks ago, was down 1.6% on the day at HK$4.57 but 8.2% higher than at its debut.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 100.47 points, or 1.02% to 9,992.87 on the region-wide rally in tech stocks in reaction to strong overnight gains in the US, where the Philadelphia Semiconductor index rose 7.2%. QPL International, which makes integrated circuits, was up 6.3% to HK$1.68 while China's top computer maker, Legend Group, rose 3.73% to HK$2.97.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei broke through 10,000 for the first time since August, but fell back to close at 9898.72, a net gain of 103.56. Technology issues led, with NEC heading higher for the second day, up 4% to 832 yen. Internet investor Softbank was the most active issue by value, rising 14.3% to 3510 yen.

In Taiwan, the rally pushed stocks to highs not seen in nearly a year. The Weighted index was up 45.71 points at 5,367.97. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, the world's largest contract microchip maker, added to yesterday's gains to rise 2.46% to T$62.50.

Accton Technology also had a boost from the announcement of a joint venture with Philips Electronics of the Netherlands to make wireless products for computers and mobile telephones. Its shares were up 5.5% at T$30.

Seoul also shared the spoils, South Korea's Kospi index hitting a six-month high of 715.80 before easing to 708.34, a gain of 4.05 points.

Brokers reported heavy foreign buying with Samsung Electronics, the world's largest memory chip maker, gaining 1.94% to 7,870 won and third-ranked Hynix Semiconductor up 3.48% at 8330 won in heavy trade.

In Singapore, Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing was up 0.95% at S$1.06 and ST Assembly Test Services, the world's sixth-largest chip tester, rose 2% to S$2.04. The Straits Times index gained 2.86 points to close at 1,518.95.

In Sydney, blue-chips helped nudge the index higher in early trade, and the All Ordinaries closed 8.20 points higher at 3,013.60.. Major resources, media and industrial stocks all made ground. News Corporation led the way, rising almost 3% to A$11.50.

Banking stocks were broadly lower as investors took profits after recent gains, Westpac underperforming its counterparts with a 2.58% fall to A$15.85.