Stocks finish mixed amid higher volatility
Updated: 2007-08-08 16:45
Chinese stocks continued price adjustments in violent swings with no clear trend for the day. The Shanghai Composite Index managed to close up 12 points, driven by a few large-cap blue chips, but the Shenzhen Component Index dropped nearly 2 percent.
Total turnover of the stocks enclosed by the two indices was 242 billion yuan, 32 billion yuan down from yesterday.
Shanghai Composite Index
Source: www.sina.com.cn
Stocks in Shanghai saw higher volatility today, with the spread of movements by the benchmark index extending to 143 points from yesterday's 100 points and Monday's 65 points. The index, opening lower from 4,614.59, dived deep to its lowest of 4,568.7 immediately after the opening, then bounced back before it started fluctuating violently. In the afternoon session, it toughed out a higher 4,711.32 but failed to maintain that level. Finally, it finished at 4,663.16, 11.94 points or 0.26 percent higher than yesterday, as a new record-high close.
Of the A shares listed on the Shanghai bourse, 229 closed up while 545 slipped and 68 finished unchanged. Long Jian Road and Bridge led a total of five stocks to rise at least 10 percent, the maximum movement cap for stocks on a single-day trading. Shanghai Kaikai Industry, however, was down 9.98 percent to finish the day on the bottom.
The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the largest trader both in terms of trading volume and transaction value, had an astonishing 9.83 percent surge, a rise seldom seen on the heaviest-weighted blue chip stock, and saved the index from slumping as its Shenzhen counterpart did today.
Shenzhen Component Index
Source: www.sina.com.cn
The Shenzhen Component Index, tracking the smaller Shenzhen Stock Exchange, was down 329.55 points or 1.99 percent to 16,193.72. Opening lower from 16,346.53, it went through the day in a range from 15,864.63 to 16,532.77.
Of the A shares, 152 went up, 401 slipped, and 69 closed flat. New share Maanshan Fangyuan Slewing Ring rocketed 479 percent to 47 yuan to top the gainers list. Risesun Real Estate Development, also new to the exchange, saw its share price almost tripled to 50.8 yuan. On the other side, Huangshan Novel led the mainstream fall with a 9.4 percent drop.
Stocks in the timber, food, and machinery industries rose the fastest while the rise of heavyweight banking shares such as Bank of China, China Minsheng Banking Corp and China CITIC Bank helped stop the Shanghai index from slipping.
Closed-end mutual funds were down, with both the fund indices dropping over 1 percent. B shares were weak, with 36 of them closing up, 8 unchanged and 65 down. Jinzhou Port grew 9.2 percent as the top gainer.
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