Chinese stocks surge to 5-year high
(AP)
Updated: 2006-10-24 16:00
SHANGHAI -- Chinese stocks jumped Tuesday, with the key Shanghai index
closing at a five-year high as funds used to bid for shares in Industrial &
Commercial Bank of China flowed back into the market.
The benchmark
Shanghai Composite Index surged 2.6 percent to 1,805.18, its highest close since
September 21, when it ended at 1,807.01. The Shanghai index fell 1.7 percent on
Monday.
A stock investor checks the share
index changes at a securities trading office in Zhengzhou, central China's
Henan Province October 24, 2006. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index
surged 2.6 percent to 1,805.18, its highest close since September 21, when
it ended at 1,807.01. [newsphoto] |
The Shenzhen Composite Index jumped 2.1 percent to 447.32.
More than 700 billion yuan (US$88.6 billion) in funds that failed to win
a piece of ICBC's initial public offering were thought to have fueled Tuesday's
rebound.
ICBC, whose shares begin trading Friday in Shanghai and Hong
Kong, expects to raise up to US$22 billion in its IPO, the world's largest
ever.
Analysts said they expected the Shanghai index to remain near
1,800 ahead of ICBC's Friday debut.
Large capitalized companies
advanced, fueled by strong institutional demand.
China Petroleum &
Chemical, Asia's largest refiner by capacity, surged 6.4 percent to 5.99 yuan at
the close; China United Telecommunications spiked 4.4 percent to 2.64 and Air
China gained 4.2 percent to 3.72.
All of the three were among the most
active stocks on the mainland market.
"Institutions want to create a
positive market environment for ICBC's listing on Friday, because many of them
hold large amounts of ICBC's IPO shares," said Zhou Lin, an analyst at Huatai
Securities.
In currency dealings, the yuan fell against the dollar after
the US currency gained against other major currencies.
On the
over-the-counter market the dollar was at 7.9054 around 0715 GMT, up from
Monday's close of 7.8991.
The dollar was at 7.9050 on the automatic
price matching system. It closed Monday at 7.8980.
|
