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Commodities blues depress morning market

SHANGHAI'S key stock index closed lower at the morning session, led by copper producers after commodity prices declined.

The Shanghai Composite Index dipped 0.37 percent, or 7.77 points, to 2,075.08 points.

The Shenzhen Composite Index, which tracks the smaller domestic market, was up 1.37 percent, or 9.05 points, to 668.11 points.

Jiangxi Copper Co retreated 2.52 percent to 15.09 yuan and Yunnan Copper Industry Co dropped 2.59 percent to 12.39 yuan.

Tongling Nonferrous Metals Group Co, China's second-biggest copper smelter by output, said profit fell 38 percent last year as processing fees dropped and it wrote down inventories after prices slumped in the fourth quarter. Tongling sank 1.86 percent to 8.97 yuan.

Copper futures for May delivery lost 2.6 percent on February 27 for the first decline in five days. Crude oil for April delivery slipped 1 percent, breaking a three-day winning streak. A measure of six primary metals traded in London slid 1.3 percent.

China Eastern Airlines Corp tumbled 4.62 percent to 4.54 yuan after saying fuel-hedging losses may fall this year.

Bucking the downward trend, home-appliance makers gained. China plans to hand out 20 billion yuan (US$2.9 billion) in subsidies this year for farmers' home-appliances purchasing, the commerce ministry said.

TCL Corp, China's biggest television maker added 1.85 percent to 3.3 yuan. Qingdao Haier Co, the refrigerator and air conditioner unit of the nation's biggest home appliance maker, inched up 0.11 percent to 9.36 yuan.

Elsewhere, China Life Insurance Co, the nation's biggest insurance company said it won't bid for the Asian unit of American International Group Inc. China Life eased 1.42 percent to 20.19 yuan.

The share sale plan for Xuzhou Construction Machinery Science & Technology Co, the construction equipment maker, received "conditional approval" from the China Securities Regulatory Commission, the regulator said in February. Xuzhou Construction fell 5.47 percent to 23 yuan.



 

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