BEIJING (XFN-ASIA) - China A-shares finished the morning higher, with
financial and property stocks leading the gains on improved confidence in the
financial markets arising from moves in the US Congress moves to rescue troubled
mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Dealers said a further drop in crude oil prices also bolstered market
sentiment.
Light, sweet crude tumbled 3.98 usd to settle at 124.44 usd a barrel on the
New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil prices have declined more than 15 pct from the
peak of 147.27 usd at the beginning of the month.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index ended the morning up 21.75 points or
0.77 pct at 2,859.60, off a high of 2,888.27.
"A positive external environment, as seen from rebounds in most regional
markets, helped to keep the A-share market in positive territory," said Cao Yan,
an analyst with Soochow Securities.
"However, shrinking turnover indicates that institutional investors are
still on the sidelines," Cao noted. "The market cannot rebound further in the
near term until more funds flow in," she added.
Kong Linghua, an analyst at TX Investment Consulting, said the market is
likely to consolidate in the afternoon session, tracking profit-taking in the
Hong Kong market.
Shanghai Pudong Development Bank (SHA 600000) rose 2.74 pct to 22.50 yuan,
while China Merchants Bank (SHA 600036; HK 3968) gained 2.83 pct to 24.75 yuan.
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) (SHA 601398; HK 1398) was up 1.19
pct at 5.11.
Ping An Insurance (Group) Co of China (SHA 601318; HK 2318) jumped 3.10 pct
to 45.23 yuan and China Life Insurance (SHA 601628; HK 2628) advanced 1.06 pct
to 26.67.
Poly Real Estate Group (SHA 600048) gained 4.75 pct to 16.10 yuan and China
Merchants Property Development (SZA 000024; SZB 200024) rose 3.50 pct to 15.99.
China Vanke (SZA 000002; SZB 200002), the top property developer by market
value, added 2.87 pct to 8.96 yuan.
PetroChina (SHA 601857; HK 0857), the biggest index component, was up 0.26
pct at 15.25 yuan, while China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (Sinopec) (SHA 600028;
HK 0386; NYSE SNP) advanced 1.53 pct to 11.27.
Airlines were mixed after China Eastern Airlines and Shanghai Airlines said
they have not engaged in talks to merge. The sector soared yesterday partly due
to rumors of a merger being discussed by government officials, not the companies
themselves.
Air China (SHA 601111; HK 0753) added 1.12 pct to 10.84 yuan, while China
Southern Airlines (SHA 600029; HK 1055; ADR ZNH) rose 0.60 pct to 8.34.
China Eastern Airlines (SHA 600115; HK 0670; NYSE CEA) was down 0.26 pct at
7.75 and Shanghai Airlines (SHA 600591) shed 1.52 pct to 6.46 yuan.
Weichai Power (SZA 000338; HK 2338) rose 3.21 pct to 45.32 yuan. The company
said first-half net profit is expected to have risen by 50-100 pct year-on-year
due to increased engine sales to the rapidly expanding heavy-duty truck and
construction machinery market.
Minmetals Development (SHA 600058), the listed arm of metals trading group
China Minmetals Corp, was up 5.88 pct at 25.38 yuan after projecting first-half
net profit growth of over 200 pct from a year earlier.
Guangdong Midea Electric Appliances (SZA 000527) fell 2.75 pct to 12.38 yuan
after the securities regulator approved its plan to issue additional A-shares,
raising about 3.556 bln yuan.
Gold miners were lower after gold prices retreated in the track of oil
prices.
Zhongjin Gold (SHA 600489) lost 1.90 pct to 51.07 yuan and Shandong
Gold-Mining (SHA 600547) tumbled 3.57 pct to 57.33.
The Shanghai A-share Index rose 22.86 points or 0.77 pct to 2,999.75, while
the Shenzhen A-share Index was up 7.89 points or 0.89 pct at 895.38.
The FTSE/Xinhua China A 50 Index was up 117.84 points or 1.14 pct at
10,424.10 and the FTSE/Xinhua China A 200 Index gained 79.70 points or 1.00 pct
to 8,086.07.
(1 usd = 6.8 yuan)
allen.shu@xfn.com
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xfnals/xfntm
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