HBC closed the day slightly above $62. Very range bound, I'll wait a few days to get some. Volume quite low.
biz.yahoo.com
Friday July 16, 5:38 pm Eastern Time
FOCUS-HSBC begins trading on N.Y. Stock Exchange
(rewrites throughout, adds closing price in 2nd graf, market close in 5th graf)
By Gilles Castonguay
NEW YORK, July 16 (Reuters) - HSBC Holdings Bank Plc (NYSE:HBC - news), one of the world's largest banks, began trading on New York Stock Exchange on Friday, enabling its shares to be traded actively round the clock and around the world.
But HSBC, whose stock is already listed in London and Hong Kong, saw its American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) end 7 cents lower than the opening price of $62.13 on a volume of 198,800 issues, according to unofficial figures.
Under the symbol ''HBC,'' each ADR, used by foreign companies to enable U.S. investors to trade in their stock, represents five HSBC shares, the world's seventh-biggest bank in assets.
One trader blamed the drop on its arrival ahead a weekend in the middle of the summer. ''There's nobody at work today.''
The broader U.S. market witnessed average trading levels, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average hitting another record with an unofficial close of 11,209.84.
Ray Soifer, an analyst at Brown Brothers Harriman who began formal coverage of the bank with a ''neutral'' rating earlier in the day, said ADRs rarely traded actively on their own accord.
''They tend to mirror trading in their country,'' he said.
Although its head offices are now in London, HSBC began operating in Hong Kong in 1865 as the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank Corp., financing the silk trade and other ventures. It has since expanded its operations to become a global titan with offices in 79 countries and territories, including Brazil, Canada and India.
''Listing in New York is an important milestone in the continued development of the HSBC Group,'' HSBC Chairman John Bond, who rang the opening bell on the exchange floor to celebrate the listing, said in a statement. ''It is sensible for a group of our size to have access to the world's largest capital market.''
The listing has heightened Wall Street expectations that the group would use the ADRs as currency to make further acquisitions in the competitive U.S. banking sector.
''It is very difficult to do an acquisition for stock that isn't listed in the United States,'' Soifer said. ''Their stock should now be much more acceptable for potential sellers.''
But Keith Whitson, the bank's chief executive, said HSBC had no immediate plans to make a purchase, given how it was still completing its $10.3 billion cash acquisition of Republic New York Corp. (NYSE:RNB - news) and its sister Safra Republic Holdings SA .
''We are not blind to the fact that a listing offers that benefit. But at the moment we have no specific plans,'' he told Reuters. ''We don't have a shopping list. But on the other hand, we're always keen to see if there are opportunities.''
The acquisition would lead to HSBC's North American operations, which include Midland Marine Bank, to represent 25 percent of the group's total assets and about 23 percent of profits.
In a television interview, Bond reiterated HSBC's goal of doubling its market capitalization within five years. At $104 billion, the bank, which has 8.4 billion shares, was the third largest in the world after U.S.-based Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C - news) and Bank of America Corp. (NYSE:BAC - news). |
