PRESS DIGEST -Hong Kong - Aug 29

HONG KONG, Aug 29 (Reuters) - These are some of the leading stories in Hong Kong newspapers on Friday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST -- The Hong Kong stock exchange and 450 brokerage houses have been working closely to ensure retail investors will be able to trade on the local stock market if a planned protest by Occupy Central blocks streets in the central business district. Occupy Central plans to gather outside the government headquarters in Tamar on Sunday night, said co-organiser Benny Tai Yiu-ting. (http://bit.ly/VRjN6B) -- In the latest attempt to raise the profile of its Hong Kong-style free port, Shanghai has unveiled ambitious plans to create a clutch of international commodity trading platforms in its free-trade zone. According to an action plan, major commodities including iron ore, cotton and copper will be traded on the internationalised markets inside the zone by 2015. (http://bit.ly/YYZx50) THE STANDARD -- Hong Kong's retail sales in July slid 3.1 percent to HK$38.7 billion ($5 billion) from a year earlier, as the value of sales of luxury items fell by more than 20 percent, lower than most estimates. Hong Kong Retail Management Association chairwoman Caroline Mak Sui-king said she was very surprised. She said Hong Kong's status as a shopping paradise was being threatened. (http://bit.ly/1qlHRtl) -- The Hong Kong government will hold investor meetings next week for its maiden Islamic bond issue, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority said. A meeting will be held in Hong Kong on Monday before one in Singapore on Tuesday and Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday with meetings in Dubai, Doha, Abu Dhabi and London on Thursday. (http://bit.ly/VTZsxj) -- Brassiere maker Top Form International said it will continue expanding offshore production to further lower costs. Amid rising labour costs in China, the company has been shifting more factories to Southeast Asia. Chief financial officer Vivian Chan Man-ying said the operational environment remains difficult. (http://bit.ly/1vrGgGR) HONG KONG ECONOMIC TIMES -- Hong Kong Federation of Students said it will hold a strike in the middle of next month, along with a few thousand students from 11 colleges and universities in the city, to protest against China's decision to limit nominations for the 2017 election of the city's chief executive to a handful of candidates loyal to Beijing. APPLE DAILY -- HSBC said in a research report it lowered its forecast for Hong Kong's 2014 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to 2.3 percent from 2.9 percent due to contraction in GDP growth in the second quarter and a weakening labour market. The bank lowered its 2015 GDP forecast to 3.5 percent from 3.7 percent. For Chinese newspapers, see............... (1 US dollar = 7.7501 Hong Kong dollar) (Reporting by Donny Kwok; Editing by Anupama Dwivedi)