HONG KONG/SHANGHAI: Hong Kong and China stocks retreated on Monday, Jan 10 as property and banking issues fell on a report that the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing may impose a property tax in the current quarter.

SYDNEYL Residents in Brisbane, Australia's third largest city, sandbagged their homes against rising waters on Monday, Jan 10, as police warned people in smaller outlying towns to be ready to abandon homes as forecasters predicted more heavy rain.

KUALA LUMPUR: Tambun Indah Land Bhd (Tambun Indah), a property developer in Penang, saw its initial public offering (IPO) of 11.05 million shares oversubscribed by 14.9 times.

The company received 10,751 applications for 175.7 million shares with a total value of RM123 million, it said in a press statement on Monday, Jan 10.

KUALA LUMPUR: Hap Seng Consolidated Bhd (Hap Seng) plans to undertake initiatives to increase the free float and liquidity of its shares and raise capital to drive its expansion plans.

The proposed initiatives include a private placement of new shares of up to 20% of the current share capital of the company, a two-for-one bonus issue and a one-for-five renounceable rights issue.

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah's request for more people's housing projects (PPR) will be given due consideration, said Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Chor Chee Heung.

He said the ministry realised that a big state like Sabah needed more affordable houses for people in the low income group.

BEIJING: China's first capsule hotel will be opened in Shanghai to attract many budget travellers with low prices, Xinhua news agency cited a Chinese newspaper's report Monday, Jan 10.

SHANGHAI/BEIJING: China is set to further clamp down on the country's buoyant housing market by imposing a long-debated property tax for the first time in the southwestern city of Chongqing, domestic media reported on Monday, Jan 10.

HONG KONG: Chinese developer Evergrande Real Estate Group Ltd set its contracted sales target for 2011 at 40% above its 2010 total contracted sales.

In a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange on Monday, Jan 10, Evergrande said it had set a contracted sales target for 2011 of 70 billion yuan (RM32.39 billion), compared with total contracted sales of about 50.4 billion yuan for 2010.

Questions were raised when news leaked that Newfields Property Management Sdn Bhd (Newfields) was planning to develop a 52-acre tract located in Puchong South back in 2004. “People were sceptical, saying that the location was in the middle of nowhere.

For the past five years, Seni Nusantara Sdn Bhd has been building semi-detached homes in its maiden project, Kiara View. Now, the company is looking at including premium bungalow units in the fifth and final phase of the development in Mont’Kiara, Kuala Lumpur.