| Mainland stocks close at record high on Monday |
SHANGHAI, Apr. 2 -- Chinese mainland stocks climbed, snapping a two drop with a record close. Baoshan Iron & Steel Co led gains among steelmakers after the company said its fourth-quarter profit rose 77 percent from a year earlier, according to Bloomberg.
"We have turned more positive'' on Baoshan because of the earnings, Zhang Feng, a Hong Kong-based analyst at JPMorgan Chase & Co, said in a research note today. He expects Chinese steel prices to rise five percent in 2007.
Lenders gained as Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. may say net income for 2006 climbed 36 percent.
The benchmark CSI Composite Index of yuan-denominated A-shares, previously known as the Shanghai and Shenzhen 300 Index, gained 68.32, or 2.5 percent, to a record 2,850.11.
Baoshan Steel, China's biggest steelmaker, gained 0.42 yuan, or 4.2 percent, to 10.32 yuan. Net income rose 77 percent from a year earlier to 3.92 billion yuan (US$506 million), because it made more higher-grade products to meet rising demand from makers of autos and appliances. The result beat the 3.44 billion yuan median estimate of eight analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News.
Wuhan Iron & Steel Co, China's third-biggest steelmaker, gained 0.62 yuan, or 6.8 percent, to 9.70 yuan. Angang Steel Co, China's fourth-largest steelmaker by output, climbed 1.02 yuan, or 7 percent, to 15.59 yuan.
ICBC, the nation's biggest listed lender, rose 0.10 yuan, or 1.8 percent, to 5.59 yuan. Net income probably surged 36 percent to 51.2 billion yuan from 37.6 billion yuan a year earlier, powered by a domestic economy that grew at the fastest pace since 1995, according to the average estimate of 21 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
Beijing-based ICBC will report earnings tomorrow for the first time since raising US$22 billion in the world's biggest initial public offering in October.
Bank of China Ltd, the country's second-biggest listed lender, gained 0.10 yuan, or 1.8 percent, to 5.65 yuan. China Merchants Bank Co, the nation's third-biggest publicly traded lender, added 0.25 yuan, or 1.4 percent, to 17.63 yuan.
The Shanghai Composite Index, which tracks the bigger of domestic stock exchanges, climbed 2.2 percent to 3,252.60. The Shenzhen Composite Index, which covers the smaller one, gained 2.3 percent to 844.66.
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