| Financial, property firms send stocks to new high |
SHANGHAI, Aug. 3 -- REAL estate and financial firms propelled Shanghai stocks to a new high today as investors showed confidence in corporate profits growth and a rising yuan.
The Shanghai Composite Index, which tracks both yuan-denominated A shares and hard-currency B shares, gained 153 points, or 3.47 percent, to finish at 4,560.77, breaking the previous record of 4,471.03 set on Tuesday.
The Shenzhen Composite Index, which covers the smaller stock market on mainland, rose 30 points, or 2.34 percent, to 1,323.40.
The rising yuan may bring investors into yuan-denominated assets, such as real estate companies and banks. The yuan climbed 0.54 percent last month after a 0.44 percent gain in June.
China Merchants Bank jumped the 10-percent daily ceiling to 33 yuan (US$4.37) per share. The bank is expected to report first-half financial results on August 9.
Shanghai Pudong Development Bank rose 5.79 percent to 44.23 yuan and Huaxia Bank Co Ltd rose 7.74 percent to 14.06 yuan.
China Minsheng Banking Corp jumped 8.52 percent to 15.16 yuan and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the country's biggest listed lender, jumped 4.3 percent to 5.82 yuan.
China Life Insurance Co shares increased 6.88 percent to 50.98 yuan and shares in competitor Ping An Insurance (Group) Co rose 8.52 percent to 88.79 yuan.
Citic Securities Co, China's largest publicly traded broker, jumped 9.96 percent to 71.95 yuan and shares of Haitong Securities Co rose 2.53 percent to 50.30 yuan.
China Vanke, the country's biggest listed developer, grew 7.06 percent to 33.80 yuan and Shanghai Shimao Co, a developer controlled by tycoon Xu Rongmao, gained 7.34 percent to 33.77 yuan.
Air China, China's biggest international carrier, rose 3.28 percent to 13.23 yuan and China Southern Airlines Co, the nation's biggest carrier by fleet size, rose 5.38 percent to 14.11 yuan.
China's aviation watchdog said today that the country's airlines and airports returned to profit in the first half because of rising travel in the world's second-biggest aviation market and a stronger yuan.
They earned a combined profit of 4.62 billion yuan in the first six months, compared with a 350-million-yuan loss a year earlier, the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China said today.
Jiangxi Copper, China's second-biggest copper producer, jumped 7.48 percent to 32.03 yuan. The company said it received conditional regulatory approval for a four billion yuan stock sale, which will help fund its plan to boost production capacity 60 percent by 2008.
Yunnan Copper, the country's third-biggest copper maker, rallied 7.24 percent to 53.30 yuan.
|
|
