Hong Kong shares extend gains at open

Hong Kong stocks rose in the first few minutes of trade Monday morning, building on last week's gains, following weak US jobs data that could ease pressure on the Federal Reserve to speed up its pace of monetary tightening.

The Hang Seng Index edged up 0.13 percent, or 30.52 points, to 23,523.90.

The Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.19 percent, or 6.80 points, to 3,572.74, while the Shenzhen Composite Index on China's second exchange eased 0.28 percent, or 6.81 points, to 2446.01.

Meanwhile, Shares of Chinese developer Modern Land plunged nearly 40 percent to all-time lows on resumption of trade on Monday after it said it has been in talks with noteholders on a restructuring plan for its US$1.3 billion of offshore bonds.

Modern Land said in a filing on Monday it has received notices from certain noteholders demanding early repayment of their senior notes, after the firm missed payment for its 12.85 percent notes due Oct 25, 2021.

The shares, which have been suspended since Oct. 21, sank nearly 40 percent in Asia opening hours to HK$0.23, a historical low.

The developer said it has been in discussion with these creditors for a waiver and it has appointed financial advisers to formulate an overall plan for feasible remediation actions.

Chinese developers are facing an unprecedented liquidity squeeze due to years of regulatory curbs on borrowing, leading to a string of offshore debt defaults, credit-rating downgrades and sell-offs in developers' shares and bonds.

China Evergrande Group, the world's most indebted developer with more than US$300 billion in liabilities, is seeking a six-month delay in the redemption and coupon payments of a 4.5 billion yuan (US$157 million) bond in a meeting with bond holders. The outcome of the meeting is expected later Monday.

Separately smaller peer Shimao Group Holdings, which defaulted on a trust loan last week, has put on sale all of its real estate projects, including both residential and commercial properties, Caixin reported.

The Shanghai-based property developer has struck a preliminary deal with a Chinese state-owned company to sell its Shimao International Plaza Shanghai, a commercial property on Shanghai's Nanjing Road, for more than 10 billion yuan, the report said.

The company didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

As of 0207 GMT, shares of Evergrande fell 2.8 percent, while Shimao gained 5.3 percent.

(AFP/Reuters)