Stocks News
- Chinese shares gain amid falling volume as investors toast upcoming holidays
Date: 17-Dec-2007 Sources: (Xinhua Online)
BEIJING, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- Chinese shares rebounded on Friday, as investors shrugged off worries about tightening measures and turned their attention to the economic impact of the approaching holiday season.
Shares of retailers and liquor producers rose, and positive sentiment even spread to property developers and banks, which regained ground after several sessions of weak performance.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index, which includes A and B shares, closed above the important threshold of 5,000 points again after three days of declines. It edged up 1.01 percent, or 49.87 points, to close at 5,007.91 points. The intra-day low was 4,899.75 points.
The Shenzhen Component Index on the smaller Shenzhen Stock Exchange jumped to 16,483.50 points, up 2.80 percent, a gain of 448.31 points.
Gains led losses by 734 to 86 in Shanghai and 548 to 88 in Shenzhen.
Despite the gains, volume declined on Friday. The combined turnover of the Shanghai and Shenzhen bourses fell to 122.41 billion yuan (about 16.6 billion U.S. dollars) from Thursday's 156.98 billion yuan.
Liquor is a must-have for Chinese families gathering for the New Year holiday and traditional Spring Festival. Kweichow Moutai, China's most famous spirit, rose 7.74 percent to 216.00 yuan and Wuliangye was up 9.96 percent to 42.06 yuan.
Holidays are also a golden time for shopping. Surging consumer prices, while of concern to economic planners, has actually buoyed confidence in the strength of the consumption sector, which drove up the prices of shopping malls and supermarkets.
Beijing Xidan Department Store rose by the daily limit of 10.01 percent to 13.08 yuan, Hualian Supermarket went up 8.74 percent to 14.68 yuan and Beijing Urban-Rural Trade Center was up 8.71 percent to 14.98 yuan.
The battered real estate sector stopped sinking on Friday, with Vanke, China's leading developer, up 0.55 percent to 29.95 yuan, Poly Real Estate up 2.04 percent to 61.01 yuan, and Gemdale, another major developer, up 0.56 percent to 40.98 yuan.
However, Wan Bing, an analyst with Guangfa Securities, said that real estate and bank stocks were still weak and Friday's gains were simply a correction from previous sharp declines. Heavyweights, still on the ebb, could drag down the index in coming days, Wan said.
Media reports said that China's banking regulator was likely to permit banks' qualified domestic institutional investor (QDII) units to invest in the U.S. and European stocks, and foreign investment companies, including foreign banks, would be allowed to issue A shares in mainland markets.
Analysts indicated that these moves, which are intended to expand investment channels and disperse excess liquidity in China, could cause funding difficulties and further fluctuations in domestic stock markets.
Sponsor Results:
