By Bloomberg News
Oct. 12 (Bloomberg) -- China’s benchmark stock index fell, after changing direction at least 13 times, as a decline by commodity producers on lower metal prices countered gains by automakers.
Baoshan Iron & Steel Co., the country’s biggest steelmaker, dropped 1.3 percent and Jiangxi Copper Co. retreated 2 percent. SAIC Motor Corp., the nation’s largest carmaker, rose 1 percent and Chongqing Changan Automobile Co. gained 4.6 percent after newspaper reports said auto sales increased.
“Commodity producers and steelmakers face overcapacity as the economic recovery isn’t solid enough to spur explosive growth in demand,” said Zhang Ling, who helps oversee about $7.21 billion at ICBC Credit Suisse Asset Management Co. in Beijing.
The Shanghai Composite Index fell 17.23, or 0.6 percent, to 2,894.48 at the close. About nine stocks rose for every eight that declined on the gauge. The measure advanced 4.8 percent on Oct. 9 following an eight-day holiday. The CSI 300 Index, measuring exchanges in Shanghai and Shenzhen, lost 0.4 percent to 3,151.63.
The Shanghai index declined 6.1 percent in the third quarter on concern a slowdown in lending growth will stifle the world’s third-largest economy. China’s four biggest commercial banks extended new yuan-denominated loans of about 110 billion yuan ($16 billion) in September, the lowest monthly figure in 2009, Caijing magazine reported, citing industry data.
Steel Prices
Baoshan Steel lost 1.3 percent to 6.65 yuan. The company will cut prices of hot-rolled and cold-rolled steel products by 400 yuan a metric ton, state-run Xinhua News Agency said yesterday.
Tangshan Iron & Steel Co., owned by China’s second-biggest steelmaking group, slid 1.4 percent to 6.36 yuan. Wuhan Iron & Steel Co., the third biggest, declined 1.9 percent to 7.19 yuan.
The average spot price for domestic hot-rolled steel sheet fell 0.6 percent on Oct. 9 to the lowest since April 23, data from Beijing Antaike Information Development Co. showed. A measure tracking six metals including copper and aluminum dropped 1.5 percent on Oct. 9 in London, the first decline in five days.
Jiangxi Copper lost 2 percent to 36.83 yuan. Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd., the largest maker of the metal, slid 3.9 percent to 13.50 yuan. Western Mining Co., China’s fourth-biggest producer of zinc concentrate, fell 2.4 percent to 13.83 yuan.
Automakers Gain
SAIC Motor gained 1 percent to 20.62 yuan. The company’s sales in September rose 90.7 percent from a year earlier, the China Securities Journal reported today, citing the company.
The country’s passenger car sales increased almost 80 percent last month from a year earlier, the Guangzhou Daily said on its Web site today, without saying where it got the information.
Changan Automobile, the Chinese partner of Ford Motor Co. and Mazda Motor Corp., rose 4.6 percent to 11.13 yuan. FAW Car Co., which makes passenger cars with Volkswagen AG, added 2.1 percent to 18.29 yuan.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said in a report today it is keeping a “positive bias on Chinese stocks, as fundamentals seem to be improving at both macro and corporate levels, and the growth/inflation/policy nexus continues to be bullish for equities.”
China’s gross domestic product expanded 7.9 percent in the second quarter helped by a $586 billion stimulus package, subsidies for consumer spending and record bank lending.
Retail Sales
Hisense Electric Co., a household appliance maker that sells televisions through Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Best Buy Co., surged 9.9 percent to a record 15.85 yuan, after saying profit for the first nine months more than doubled.
China’s retail sales rose during the eight-day National Day holiday as a domestic tourism boom spurred spending. Average daily retail sales rose 18 percent from a year earlier during the holiday, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said Oct. 8.
“We think October retail sales growth may surprise on the upside, judging from the robust National Day holiday sales,” Tao Dong, chief Asia-Pacific economist at Credit Suisse Group AG, wrote in a report published today.
The following companies were among the most active in China’s markets. Stock symbols are in brackets after companies’ names.
China Eastern Airlines Corp. (600115 CH), the nation’s third-largest carrier by fleet size, added 1.6 percent to 5.63 yuan after shareholders approved a plan to absorb Shanghai Airlines Co. (600591 CH). Shanghai Airlines rose 0.8 percent to 6.17 yuan. Both stocks resumed trading today after suspensions on Oct. 9.
Chongqing Department Store Co. (600729 CH) surged by the 10 percent daily limit to 23.83 yuan after its board of directors approved a plan to sell shares to fund the purchase of assets from the company’s parent and an affiliate. The shares resumed trading today after being suspended since Sept. 4.
Shenzhen Properties & Resources Development (Group) Ltd. (000011 CH) climbed 5 percent to 13.83 yuan, the highest since Nov. 7, 2007. Third-quarter profit rose more than sevenfold from a year earlier to 53.98 million yuan, according to a company filing to the stock exchange today.
Weichai Heavy Machinery Co. (000880 CH) rose by the 10 percent daily limit to 12.52 yuan after saying third-quarter profit likely more than tripled.
Zhejiang Hailiang Co. (002203 CH), China’s largest publicly traded copper tube maker, fell 3.1 percent to 11.92 yuan. The company said the U.S. is investigating the alleged dumping of such products by Chinese and Mexican companies.
--Zhang Shidong. Editor: Richard Frost
To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Zhang Shidong in Shanghai at +86-21-6104-7014 or szhang5@bloomberg.net
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment