China A-shares close lower led by coal firms, airlines

Tag : power Supplies
China A-shares closed lower after a sharp dropon Wall Street as weaker-than-expected June existing-home salesrevived concerns over the US economy, dealers said.
Coal firms led the decline after the National Development andReform Commission announced that controls on spot coal prices atmajor ports and distribution centers will be tightened in a bid tokeep prices in line and ensure thermal coal supplies to powerplants.
Airlines were also lower after a rebound in oil prices.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index closed down 45.19 points or1.55 pct at 2,865.10, ending the week up 3.12 pct.
Turnover fell to 63.87 bln yuan from 77.98 bln yesterday.
'The A-share markets were apparently affected by the overnightslump on Wall Street,' said Qian Xiangjin, an analyst with CiticKinton Securities.
He noted that the decline was normal with profit-taking pressureemerging after the Dow rose for two consecutive days.
The local market is expected to remain in an uptrend withconditions favorable this month, although the index will find itdifficult to exceed 3,000 points, he said.
Cao Yan, an analyst at Soochow Securities, added that the marketwas also affected by uncertainty over policy in the runup to theweekend, when major announcements are usually made.
'Investors are on the sidelines, or clear their holdings ahead ofweekends,' Cao said.
China Shenhua Energy (SHA 601088; HK 1088), the country's largestcoal producer, fell 3.13 pct to 32.19 yuan, while China Coal Energy(SHA 601898; HK 1898) lost 2.90 pct to 13.73 yuan. Yanzhou CoalMining (SHA 600188; HK 1171; NYSE YZC) shed 2.88 pct to 18.81.
The NDRC said yesterday that local authorities will step up effortsto ensure thermal coal prices do not exceed limits, with hoardersof coal will be penalized.
Spot coal prices have risen sharply even after a freeze on pricesof thermal coal for electric power use announced on June 20.
Air China (SHA 601111; HK 0753) fell 2.91 pct to 10.66 yuan andChina Eastern Airlines (SHA 600115; HK 0670; NYSE CEA) tumbled 3.80pct to 7.59. China Southern Airlines (SHA 600029; HK 1055; ADR ZNH)was down 3.07 pct at 8.20 yuan.
Light, sweet crude rose 1.05 usd a barrel to settle at 125.49 onthe New York Mercantile Exchange.
PetroChina (SHA 601857; HK 0857), the biggest index component, fell2.14 pct to 15.07 yuan, while China Petroleum & Chemical Corp(Sinopec) (SHA 600028; HK 0386; NYSE SNP) was down 0.44 pct at11.38 yuan, off a low of 11.18.
The National Business Daily reported today that China NationalPetroleum Corp (CNPC), the parent of PetroChina, posted a pre-taxprofit of 56.4 bln yuan, down 39 pct year-on-year.
Metals stocks also slumped today.
Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) (SHA 601600; HK 2600) fell 2.71 pctto 14.01 yuan and Baoshan Iron & Steel (Baosteel) (SHA 600019) lost2.82 pct to 8.60 yuan. Gold producer Zijin Mining (SHA 601899;HK2899 ) tumbled 3.31 pct to 7.88.
CITIC Securities (SHA 600030) was down 2.94 pct at 24.73 yuan,while Haitong Securities (SHA 600837) shed 3.53 pct to 24.33 yuan.
China Life Insurance (SHA 601628; HK 2628) tumbled 3.87 pct to26.57 yuan after advancing 4.74 pct yesterday.
Datang International Power Generation (SHA 601991; HK 0991) wasdown 2.13 pct at 9.17 yuan after projecting first half net profitto have decreased by over 70 pct year-on-year.
Xugong Science & Technology (SZA 000425) rose by the 10 pct dailylimit to 15.98 yuan after announcing plans to issue about 340 mlnnew shares worth 5.6 bln yuan to facilitate the purchase of someassets from parent Xugong Group. It resumed trading today after asuspension of more than one month.
'By absorbing the high quality assets, the company willsignificantly improve its earnings, after profits were eroded byrising costs,' Citic Kinton Securities' Qian said.
Agricultural stocks were in favor today, with Hunan DongtingAquaculture (SHA 600257) rising 10 pct to 5.49 yuan and YuanLongping High-Tech Agriculture (SZA 000998) adding 7.49 pct to28.70.
The Shanghai A-share Index fell 47.51 points or 1.56 pct to3,005.58, while the Shenzhen A-share Index was down 6.15 points or0.68 pct at 902.95.
The FTSE/Xinhua China A 50 Index was down 162.46 points or 1.52 pctat 10,514.19 and the FTSE/Xinhua China A 200 Index lost 111.53points or 1.35 pct to 8,149.39.