Hong Kong-listed China plays
rose 0.5 percent on Thursday as coal shares climbed further on
news that mainland power producers would pay more for thermal
coal next year.
Investors also bid up new issue China National Materials
Company Ltd (Sinoma) 1893.HK as a proxy for the country's
sizzling economic growth. In contrast, two other debuts met with
a cooler reception.
In a choppy session, blue chips were flat at midday,
mirroring the shares of heavyweights HSBC Holdings (0005.HK: Quote, Profile, Research) and
China Mobile (0941.HK: Quote, Profile, Research).
Sinoma, the world's largest cement engineering services
provider, was the morning's most traded stock, rising to HK$6.18
for a gain of 37.3 percent from its offering price of HK$4.50.
"On a long-term basis, anything tied to construction is bound
to do well, with China's economy growing and demand for more
roads and highrises," said Andrew To, sales director at Tai Fook
Securities.
The market seesawed for much of the morning but traded in a
narrow range with the benchmark Hang Seng Index .HSI at
27,019.63 by midsession.
The China Enterprises Index of mainland companies listed in
Hong Kong performed better, boosted by the outperforming
coal sector. The index was up at 15,718.26.
Mainboard turnover was HK$43.0 billion (US$5.5 billion),
compared with Wednesday morning's HK$44.4 billion.
"The mood is quite cautious, but the selling pressure has
subsided and turnover is contracting substantially. Sentiment has
stabilised," To said.
Another new issue, Chinese handset component maker BYD
Electronic 0285.HK, finished the morning at HK$10.80, for a 0.5
percent gain from its HK$10.75 IPO price.
Vietnam Manufacturing & Export Processing (Holdings) Ltd
0422.HK, one of the country's leading makers of scooters and
motorbikes, ended the morning at HK$3.37 for a loss of 10 percent
from its HK$3.75 IPO price.
Among coal plays, China Shenhua Energy (1088.HK: Quote, Profile, Research), the
country's top coal producer, jumped 2.2 percent to HK$46. China
Coal (1898.HK: Quote, Profile, Research) climbed 2 percent to HK$23.15.
China COSCO (1919.HK: Quote, Profile, Research) raced up 3.6 percent to HK$22.95 after
the container shipper said it was revising up its forecast for
2007 earnings by at least 50 percent to reflect
better-than-expected market conditions.
The revised forecast includes contributions from its recently
completed dry bulk acquisition.
China Railway 0390.HK surged 7.6 percent to HK$8.80.
(US$1=HK$7.8)
China central bank drains 38 bln yuan in paper sales
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The People's Bank of China (PBoC) said it drained 10 bln yuan from the banking system via the sale of three-year bank bills in today's open market operations.
The bank said in a statement published on its website that the yield on the paper was 4.47 pct, unchanged from the coupon on similar paper sold last week.
A further 28 bln yuan worth of three-month central bank bills yielded 3. 4071 pct, also unchanged from last week.
The PBoC also drained 22 bln yuan from the interbank market via 7-day repurchase agreements at a yield of 2.8 pct, 39 bln worth of 28-day repos at 3.3 pct, and 5 bln 91-day repos at 3.4 pct.
The central bank carries out regular open-market operations on Tuesdays and Thursdays.