Market tumbles as investors take profit
19/8/2005 9:15
Fu Chenghao/Shanghai Daily news
Shares in Shanghai
tumbled yesterday after investors unloaded overvalued chips amid profit-taking
in what one analyst called a correction. The shanghai Composite Index, which
tracks the yuan-denominated A shares and foreign-currency B shares, shed 3.76
percent to 1,148.04. The A-share Index lost 3.76 percent to 1,206.29 while the
B-share Index dived 3.67 percent to 65.99. Turnover rose to 22.16 billion
yuan (US$2.73 billion) from 14.75 billion yuan in the previous session. "The
sharply increased trading value showed many institutional players had sold to
take profit following rises in previous sessions," said Wang Xiaomin, a Xiangcai
Securities Co analyst. "The market now is just correcting itself." China
petroleum & Chemical Corp, Asia's largest refiner, lost 3.96 percent to 4.36
yuan. China united Telecommunications Corp, which controls the country's
smaller mobile phone operator, declined 3.18 percent to 2.74 yuan. The
banking sector was not able to recover from a central bank's report on Monday
warning that property developers may fail to repay their loans, analysts
said. China merchants Bank Co, the nation's biggest listed lender, lost 3.77
percent to close at 6.63 yuan while China Minsheng Banking Corp, the country's
first privately held bank, plunged 4.50 percent to 5.31 yuan.
|