每天股市状况：中国股市China Shares End Up At 2-Yr High On Bargain Hunting

China Shares End Up At 2-Yr High On Bargain Hunting

)--China's shares ended at their highest level in more than two years Thursday, boosted by bargain hunting in blue chips after recent falls.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index, which tracks both A and B shares, ended up 1.33% at 1741.47, its highest closing level since it finished at 1770.28 April 8, 2004.

The Shenzhen Composite Index rose 2.04% to 442.64.

Turnover on the Shanghai Composite Index fell to CNY30.02 billion from CNY32.79 billion Wednesday.

"Some blue chips like Sinopec and China Merchants Bank have been oversold in the last two days while investors awaited Bank of China's A-share debut," said Yang Weidong, an analyst at Minfa Securities.

China Merchants Bank rose 0.7% to CNY7.61 after having fallen 5.0% in the previous two sessions. China Petroleum & Chemical, also known as Sinopec, rose 1.5% to CNY6.01 after having dropped 5.6% in the same period.

Analysts said China's robust economic growth will boost the earnings of the country's banks, which will benefit bank stocks further.

"Sinopec has been seriously undervalued with a P/E ratio of 10, much lower than the average of other blue chips," said an analyst at CITIC Securities, who declined to be named.

"Given that oil prices may continue to rise, Sinopec is a good investment option," he said, putting the target price at CNY7.00 in the near term.

Oil prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange hit a new record intraday overnight, topping US$75 a barrel.

In contrast to the general market's gain, Bank of China dropped 1.9% to CNY3.72 after surging 23% on its debut Wednesday.

"Profit-taking and weakness in Bank of China's H shares have weighed on its A shares," said She Minhua, an analyst at Zhongxin Jiantou Securities.

Bank of China H shares closed down 3.4% at HK$3.55 Wednesday. At 0718 GMT Thursday, they were trading at HK$3.55, unchanged from the previous day's close.

He added the bank's A shares may continue to correct, with key risks being "a higher nonperforming loan ratio and exchange-rate risk."

Analysts said they expect the Shanghai Composite index to test the key 1750 psychological level Friday.

(back)HK Shares End Up Led by China Mobile;Most Blue Chips Rise

香港股市
--Hong Kong shares ended higher Thursday on broad-based gains led by China Mobile, as investor concerns over North Korea's missile tests proved short-lived.

The blue-chip Hang Seng Index rose 173.81 points, or 1.1%, to 16440.99 after trading between 16129.65 and 16445.18 during the session. Of the 33 benchmark index constituents, 28 rose, four settled unchanged and just one closed lower.

Turnover totaled HK$24.22 billion, up from HK$22.55 billion Wednesday.

China Mobile, which is relatively insulated from current high interest rates and geopolitical risks, rose 2.1%, or HK$0.95, to HK$45.30. It contributed 58.52 points to the benchmark index's rise.

"The impact of North Korea's missiles tests looks insignificant today. But investor sentiment is still pressured by interest-rate concerns," said Castor Pang, strategist at Sun Hung Kai Financial. "There's still no clear direction whether the U.S. interest-rate-hike cycle will continue."

He said investors are awaiting U.S. payrolls data for June, due Friday, for further clues on the interest-rate outlook.



Other mainland China telecommunications companies also rose.

China Unicom rose 2.2% to HK$7.10, China Netcom advanced 3.3% to HK$14.10 and China Telecom gained 1.0% to HK$2.50.

Local telecom firm PCCW, whose asset sale remains unresolved, ended unchanged at HK$5.50.

The Hong Kong Daily News reported Thursday that tycoon Li Ka-shing, father of PCCW Chairman Richard Li, also plans to bid for PCCW's core telecom and media assets, against Macquarie Bank and Texas Pacific Group.

Analysts said PCCW could fall to below HK$5.00 level if no deal materializes.

CITIC Pacific was the day's only blue-chip decliner, dropping 0.4% to HK$22.90.

Local fast-food chain operator Fairwood closed 2.2% higher at HK$7.00 after hitting a 52-week high of HK$7.10 intraday on a stronger than expected fiscal 2006 net profit.

Fairwood said its net profit for the year ended March 2006 more than doubled to HK$75.1 million from HK$37.50 million in the previous year.

China Resources Enterprise, the biggest blue-chip gainer Thursday, closed up 5.0% at HK$15.80, after dropping 6.2% Thursday on market talk of a cash call.

China National Building Material jumped 7.8% to HK$2.78 after Goldman Sachs said Thursday it initiated coverage on the firm with a buy call and a target price of HK$3.50.

"If the U.S. payrolls data are stronger than expected, the benchmark index could fall below the 16,000-point level in the short term, but the market's fundamentals still look fine," said Sun Hung Kai's Pang.


Thursday Previous Change
Hang Seng Index 16440.99 16267.18 +173.81
HS Fin Sub-Index 28814.69 28652.78 +161.91
HS Utils Sub-Index 31945.86 31680.50 +265.36
HS Prop Sub-Index 19633.88 19500.26 +133.62
HS Comm&Indus-Index 8143.22 8016.06 +127.16
HS Composite Index 2195.03 2175.25 +19.78
S&P HKEx GEM Index 1163.02 1171.16 -8.14
S&P/HKEx LargeCap Index 19287.46 19094.28 +193.18
HS (Red Chip Index) 2347.56 2306.68 +40.88
HS (H Shr Index) 6797.07 6717.86 +79.21

日本股市：

(back)Regional Indexes Finish Mixed, Japan Shares End Lower

Asian markets were mixed Thursday with Japan markets ending 1.3% lower as reports North Korea is preparing to test-launch more missiles raised the specter of regional instability.

Tokyo shares slid for a second session as the urge to take profits after a recent winning streak and lingering concerns over the stock market outlook, heightened by North Korea's missile launches Wednesday, weighed on investor sentiment. The benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average slid under its 200-day moving average, viewed by some as a key support level, as real estate and consumer finance companies pulled the market lower.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 202.54 points, or 1.3%, to 15321.40. Consumer-finance companies were the big decliners, hit hard by moves by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party to close a legal loophole that has allowed them to charge "gray-zone" interest rates as high as 29.2%. Credit-card issuer OMC Card was the biggest percentage decliner on the Topix index of all the TSE First Section issues, slumping 10%. Consumer-finance sector stalwart Takefuji slid 5.7%.

Real-estate stocks also came under the hammer after Deutsche Securities issued a report Wednesday cutting its sector investment rating to "marketweight" from "overweight," citing already high valuations for real-estate shares. Sumitomo Realty & Development fell 2.4%, Mitsui Fudosan dropped 1.6%, and Mitsubishi Estate lost 2.0%. All three developers were cut to "hold" from "buy" by the brokerage house.

The Korea Composite Stock Price Index, or Kospi, closed down 1.2%, or 15.89 points, at 1263.96, marking its fourth-consecutive session of losses. "Higher oil prices and renewed worries over inflation in the U.S. hurt sentiment on top of fears of further North Korea missile tests," said So Jang Ho at NH Securities.

Technology and financial stocks led the decline. LG.Philips LCD dropped 3.4%, while rival Samsung Electronics, South Korea's largest corporation, fell 0.8%. Kookmin Bank fell 1.6%, and Hyundai Motor, the country's largest auto maker, declined 1.4%.

On the Hong Kong exchange, the Hang Seng Index rose 1.1% to close at 16440.99. Chinese computer-maker Lenovo Group was up as much as 4%.

Taiwan's Weighted index ended flat at 6659.07, while China share prices surged to a two-year high as investors returned to the market, snapping up big capitalized shares following recent declines, analysts said. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.33% to 1741.47. The Shenzhen Composite Index rose 2.04% to 442.64.

China Merchants Bank climbed 0.7%, while China Petroleum & Chemical, also known as Sinopec, rose 1.5% after losing 5.6% earlier in the week. And Bank of China, which saw the price for its yuan-denominated Class A shares jump 23% on Wednesday in China's biggest initial public offering ever, fell 1.9%.