Stocks News
- Shanghai Composite Index breaks 2,900-point mark
Date: 23-Jan-2007 Sources: (Xinhua Online)
Government plans to expand the capital and insurance markets helped drive up the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index, the major Chinese share index, to break the 2,900-point mark on Monday.
The index closed at 2,933.19 points on Monday, up 100.98 points from the previous close.
The Shenzhen Component Index gained 3.44 percent to hit 8,343.07 points. Turnover on the Shanghai bourse hit a record 104.9 billion yuan (13.11 billion U.S. dollars), bringing the total turnover on the two stock exchanges to 158.24 billion yuan.
More than 110 stocks rose to the upward limit of 10 percent on the two bourses, while only 25 stocks reported losses.
According to the national financial work conference concluded on Saturday, the government is to deepen financial reforms and expand capital and insurance markets in 2007. Encouraged by the news, financial shares rose sharply on the first trading day after the conference to become the main driving force behind the hikes.
Share prices of the ICBC and Bank of China rose 3.2 percent and 3.51 percent, respectively, while stock of China Life grew 5.14 percent.
Meanwhile, stocks in dozens of sectors such as steel, autos, retail sales, the defence industry, and electrical appliances all reported strong rises.
Securities analysts said the market was still rising, and predicted the benchmark index would break the 3,000-point mark soon.
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