Stocks News
- B shares up on rumor
Date: 7-Feb-2007 Sources: (Shenzhen Daily)
SHARES in China's hard-currency B shares soared yesterday in response to renewed rumors that authorities planned soon to merge the B-share system with yuan-denominated A shares.
In the late afternoon, the Shanghai B-share index was up 7.8 percent at 171.84 points, while the Shenzhen B-share index was 7.06 percent higher at 492.72.
The benchmark Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index, which includes both A and B shares, was up 2.42 percent at 2,675.70 points.
The B-share indexes have occasionally jumped during the past year, most recently in late January, on speculation that the two share classes would be merged, possibly providing large profits to B-share holders.
Analysts believe such a reform is inevitable at some stage as China develops its stock market, but say the timetable is unclear and any merger would not necessarily benefit B-share holders.
'B shares have surged on talk of an A- and B-share merger again today, but I personally don't think the merger will happen any time soon,'said Zheng Weigang, senior analyst at Shanghai Securities.
Knowledgeable officials at the China Securities Regulatory Commission could not be contacted to comment yesterday. They have previously denied such rumors.
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