Stocks extend losses on inflationary concerns and Latest value of CSI indices

Stocks extend losses on inflationary concerns

Updated: 2008-06-11 15:26

China's stocks continued to slide on Wednesday, extending an 8 percent slump on the previous session, as inflationary concerns prompted a fresh round of panic selling.

The Shanghai Composite Index, the most widely watched indicator of the country's stock market, lost 1.57 percent to close at 3,024.24 points, roughly half of the peak reached Mid-October.

As investors' sentiment was hit hard by the 7.73 percent fall on Tuesday, the Shanghai index opened 30 points lower and dropped further after the release of wholesale inflation data.

The Producer Price Index (PPI), which measures the price of goods when they leave the factory, jumped 8.2 percent in May from a year earlier, up from 8.1 percent in April, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in a statement on its website. The May growth was the fastest in more than three years.

The PPI was believed to be a key leading indicator of the Consumer Price Index (CPI), a gauge watched closely by the central bank when deciding on monetary policy. The CPI jumped 8.5 percent in April over a year earlier, the highest level in more than a decade.

Experts expect the CPI growth to fall below 8 percent in May and gradually moderate in the coming months. However, the spike in the PPI suggested the fight against inflation will remain a priority for regulators and another round of monetary tightening may come soon after the 100-basis-point hike in commercial banks' reserve ratio.

In response, the Shanghai index dropped to as low as 2,992.35 points. However, the tightening concerns were quickly overwhelmed by the expection that the government might step in to revive the market.

When the Shanghai index hit 2,990.29 points less than two months ago, regulators slashed the stamp tax on stock trading, sparking a 9 percent rally in the following session.

Bargain hunters therefore returned and helped the index regain some of the losses to close at 3,024.24 points. However, analysts did not expect a big rebound as the CPI figures will be released on Thursday and the inflationary concerns will continue to weigh on investors' sentiment.

The banking shares continued their poor performances, as they are subject to the direct influences of any monetary tightening. The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the country's biggest lender, fell 2.42 percent to close at 5.25 yuan per share.

PetroChina, which has the biggest weighting in the Shanghai Composite Index, dropped 1.43 percent to 15.9 yuan, slightly higher than its initial public offering price of 15.7 yuan.

2008-06-11 15:05 Latest value of CSI indices
Index Name	Prev. Closing	Open	High	Low	Latest	Change%	Volume(100 shares)	Turnover(RMB)
CSI 300	3206.56	3155.94	3181.82	3097.4	3140.3	-2.07	29409736	40596533248
CSI 100	3300.46	3256.01	3284.11	3199.74	3239.75	-1.84	16665529	24934731776
CSI 200	3263.23	3196.22	3219.95	3127.3	3180.6	-2.53	12744205	15661801472
CSI 500	3312.79	3250.44	3270.85	3165.7	3226.92	-2.59	20126344	19510480896
CSI 700	3285.62	3220.78	3242.9	3144.66	3201.51	-2.56	32870548	35172282368
CSI 800	3197.55	3144.91	3169.34	3081.53	3127.73	-2.18	49536080	60107014144
CSI 300 Energy index	4196.65	4173.63	4236.23	4138.48	4198.84	0.05	2183162	4525153280
CSI 300 Materials index	3255.58	3198.13	3217.42	3123.9	3163.72	-2.82	5244767	6821008896
CSI 300 Industrials index	2779.24	2724.11	2755.8	2673.56	2715.81	-2.28	4777056	6162103808
CSI 300 Consumer Discretionary index	2933.52	2891.05	2910	2813.04	2843.16	-3.08	2728717	2640816128
CSI 300 Consumer Staples index	4731.36	4686.29	4726.26	4610.85	4718.13	-0.28	1023087	1634537472
CSI 300 Health Care index	3422.96	3390.39	3409.91	3320.24	3344.11	-2.3	405198	429756768
CSI 300 Financials index	4614.59	4525.73	4576.54	4424.81	4485.2	-2.8	8364420	14548793344
CSI 300 Information Technology index	1500.81	1474.28	1546.67	1439.74	1529.98	1.94	886726	760001216
CSI 300 Telecommunication Services index	2869.14	2857.65	2931.79	2841.98	2889.83	0.72	1713261	1484117376
CSI 300 Utilities index	2142.69	2108.7	2125.94	2071.52	2098.79	-2.05	2083336	1590244224
CSI Free Float	3289.47	3234.94	3260.54	3171.12	3219.3	-2.13	68534368	79742279680
CSI Well-Off	3082.59	3050.25	3080.72	3002.34	3044.39	-1.24	9484621	13557611520
HK 100 INDEX(CNY)	1897.228	-	-	-	-	-0.405	-	-
HK 100 INDEX(HKD)	1580.934	-	-	-	-	-0.371	-	-
CSI Dividend Index	3,256.88	-	-	-	-	-2.09