Chinese Stocks edge up 1%

Chinese Stocks edge up 1%

2007-08-14


Chinese stocks continued edging up today amid price adjustments and less heated transaction totals. Total turnover of stocks in the major indices shrank to 191.2 billion yuan, the smallest in three weeks.

The Shanghai Composite Index finished at 4,872.79, up 52.72 points or 1.09 percent from yesterday's closing. Opening almost flat from 4,820.15, the index went through the morning session in short-ranged fluctuations, hitting a low of 4,789.90 half an hour before the noon break. In the afternoon, however, it grew steadily and closed a little lower than the highest 4,876.85, reached just before the end of trading.


Of the A shares listed in Shanghai, 678 went up today while 99 closed down and 65 finished flat, overruling the "20 to 80" theory that has dominated the market on most occasions. Nanjing Textiles Import and Export, rising 10.05 percent to 8.43 yuan, topped the gainers' list to lead another 19 stocks with the maximum 10 percent growth on the first places. Wuhan East Lake High Technology, resuming from a share structure reform, dropped 17 percent on the other end of the table.


The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, resuming its first place position on the largest trading volume list, was down 0.05 yuan. CITIC Securities, with the largest trading volume, surged 8.5 percent to 82.48 yuan.

The Shenzhen Component Index, tracking the smaller Shenzhen Stock Exchange, opened lower from 16,092.47, but closed 235.78 points or 1.46 percent to 16,351.90. It went through the day within a range of 16,010.20 to 16395.46.

Of the A shares, 496 went up, 58 closed down, and 74 ended unchanged. Tianjin Guangyu Development led 12 stocks surging to the maximum growth cap while Huayi Compressor slid 10.04 percent on the bottom of the league. China Vanke, the largest trader, added 0.17 yuan to its share price.'
Stocks in the media, pharmaceutical and textile sectors performed better than the others. Closed-end mutual funds listed on the boards went up, with both the indices rising around 3 percent. B shares were up. Of the total 109 listed B shares, 102 closed up.


The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) yesterday announced an agreement to establish a cross-market system to supervise and coordinate the stock market and the upcoming CSI300 index futures market.


Five parties signed the agreement yesterday, including the Shanghai Stock Exchange, Shenzhen Stock Exchange, China Financial Futures Exchange and China Securities Depository and Clearing Co Ltd and China Futures Margin Monitoring Center Co Ltd.


Analysts believe the setup of a cross-market supervision system is necessary to maintain stability of the financial industry and may help China combat irregularities and protect investor interests.


The commission also issued a notice to securities brokers on management over idle stock accounts and the deposit system for third-party accounts. CSRC ordered China Securities Depository and Clearing Co Ltd, the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange to work out detailed rules and procedures to establish a standardized account management system, improve new account administration, enforce supervision over the accounts, to facilitate the clients' trading of clearance third-party deposits.


As of last Friday, there were 112.3 million stock investment accounts in China, including 33.8 million new accounts opened this year. Of the total, 94.6 million accounts were held by individual A-share investors, including the 21.8 million new accounts opened this year. But there are many idle accounts seldom accessed by owners.