CHINA CONSTRUCTION BANK

Hong Kong shares had edged lower by midday on Monday, giving up earlier gains, as investors sold shares of companies that reported weak or even forecast-meeting half-year results, underscoring weak risk appetite, with more volatility expected.

China shares in Shanghai and Hong Kong fell on Monday as investors hammered companies reporting weak or forecast-meeting results, while a late jump in HSBC helped the Hang Seng index offset some of those losses and end higher.

While the rest of the world spirals into a debt-filled economic abyss, ultra-wealthy Persian Gulf states like Qatar and Kuwait are propped up by the high prices of crude oil and natural gas.

Global sovereign wealth funds are set to hasten investing the billions of dollars of cash holdings they have built up in a rebound from the 2008 financial crisis that has lifted their combined assets to a record.

Singapore's Temasek sold stakes in two of China's biggest banks on Wednesday to raise $3.6 billion, in a move likely aimed at reducing the sovereign investor's big exposure to the financial sector and building up a warchest.

Shares of major Chinese lenders China Construction Bank <0939.HK> and Agricultural Bank of China <1288.HK> fell to multi-month lows on Tuesday, hit by potentially souring loans, an economic slowdown and tighter capital requirements.

U.S. stocks suffered a rout after Standard & Poor's cut its outlook on the U.S. government debt, warning that the U.S. fiscal profile may become meaningfully weaker than that of other triple-A-rated countries if policy makers can't tame the budget deficit. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 140.24 points, or 1.14%, to 12201.59, led lower by Bank of America and Caterpillar, which each fell 3.1%.

U.S. stocks gave up modest gains to turn lower in the final minutes of Monday's trading session, as financials and materials sectors joined consumer and tech stocks in the red.

U.S. stocks gained for the third consecutive day on Friday as investors shook off global fears and focused instead on upbeat earnings.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed back above 12000, boosted by a major telecommunications deal and a jump in energy stocks as oil prices leapt.

U.S. stocks plunged on Thursday as weaker-than-expected economic reports from both domestic and overseas coupled with fears over the impact on oil price by pervasive unrest in the Middle East and North Africa weighed on the sentiment.

U.S. stocks ended higher on Tuesday, as oil prices eased to below $105 a barrel and financials rallied on upbeat profit forecast from the Bank of America.

China Construction Bank (CCB) is keen to acquire a stake in Malaysian lender EON Capital Bhd , The Edge weekly newspaper reported on Saturday.

China's banking regulator has drawn up a tough new set of capital requirement rules as part of efforts to implement Basel III guidelines, according to a document obtained by Reuters on Friday.

A unit of China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd, the country's No.2 mobile operator, will make a 16 billion yuan ($2.4 billion), 180-day short-term commercial paper issue, sources said on Friday.

China's top five banks have scrapped mortgage rate discounts for first home buyers in Beijing, the official China Securities Journal said on Thursday, as part of efforts to cool a red-hot property market.

China Everbright Bank may raise around $7 billion through a share sale in Hong Kong just six months after its Shanghai IPO, leading the way for more fundraising by smaller banks.

Bank of China Ltd and four other major state lenders will end preferential mortgage rates for first-time homebuyers in the southern boomtown of Shenzhen after the Lunar New Year holiday, a local newspaper said.

China will be more tortoise than hare in its monetary tightening in the Year of the Rabbit, barely nudging up interest rates even as inflation races to new heights.

China Construction Bank (CCB) (601939.SS) (0939.HK) has won approval to buy a combined 51 percent stake in Pacific Antai Life Insurance, the official Financial News reported on Monday.

China's central bank has cut its 2011 lending target for banks by 10 percent from last year, the official Securities Journal reported on Tuesday, citing unidentified banking sources.