FORM 6-K

                       SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

                             Washington, D.C. 20549

                        Report of Foreign Private Issuer
                    Pursuant to Rule 13a - 16 or 15d - 16 of
                       the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

                           For the month of May, 2006

                                HSBC Holdings plc

                              42nd Floor, 8 Canada
                         Square, London E14 5HQ, England


(Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual
reports under cover of Form 20-F or Form 40-F).

                          Form 20-F X Form 40-F ......

(Indicate by check mark whether the registrant by furnishing the information
contained in this Form is also thereby furnishing the information to the
Commission pursuant to Rule 12g3-2(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of
1934).

                                Yes....... No X


(If "Yes" is marked, indicate below the file number assigned to the registrant
in connection with Rule 12g3-2(b): 82- ..............)






                  HSBC HOLDINGS PLC - PRE-CLOSE TRADING UPDATE

Following the statement given this morning by Sir John Bond, Group Chairman,
HSBC Holdings plc (HSBC), at the Annual General Meeting, HSBC will be conducting
a trading update with analysts and fund managers on Tuesday, 30 May 2006 ahead
of its close period for the half-year ending 30 June 2006. The meeting will take
place by conference call from 10:00 am until 11:00 am local time in London.

HSBC's results for the half-year ending 30 June 2006 will be announced on
Monday, 31 July 2006.

Conference call details

The conference call is being hosted by Douglas Flint, Group Finance Director,
and will be accessible by dialling:

UK:           +44 (0)20 7947 5061
US:           +1 866 432 7186
Hong Kong:    +852 800 933 370

A recording of the conference call will be available for seven days on HSBC's
website by following this link http://www.hsbc.com/precloseupdate from shortly
after the live event.

1. Forward-looking statements
This presentation and subsequent discussion may contain certain forward-looking
statements with respect to the financial condition, results of operations and
business of the Group. These forward-looking statements represent the Group's
expectations or beliefs concerning future events and involve known and unknown
risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events
to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements.
Additional detailed information concerning important factors that could cause
actual results to differ materially is available in our Annual Report.

2. The HSBC Group
HSBC Holdings plc is headquartered in the UK. The HSBC Group serves over 125
million customers worldwide from more than 9,500 offices in 76 countries and
territories in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, the Americas, the Middle East
and Africa. With assets of US$1,502 billion at 31 December 2005, HSBC is one of
the world's largest banking and financial services organisations. HSBC is
marketed worldwide as 'the world's local bank'.








                                    SIGNATURE

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the
registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

                               HSBC Holdings plc

                                                By:
                                                Name:  P A Stafford
                                                Title: Assistant Group Secretary
                                                Date:  26 May 2006