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April 28, 2012

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Home » Business » Finance

Stocks drop as earnings slip

SHANGHAI'S stock market dropped yesterday, capping its first losing week in a month, as a slump in first-quarter earnings of industrial companies set a grim reminder of China's economic downturn.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index dropped 0.35 percent to 2,396.32 points, bringing the weekly loss to 0.44 percent.

The National Bureau of Statistics yesterday reported the profits of industrial companies dropped 1.3 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier to 1.04 trillion yuan (US$165 billion), despite a 4.5 percent year-on-year increase in March alone.

CITIC Securities said in a note that any rebound is largely dependant on investment in infrastructure and credit creation, which are the main tools the government will use to help the economy bottom out.

Resource producers dropped ahead of next week's release of the Purchasing Managers' Index for April. The flash reading was still below 50, indicating a contraction in industrial activities. Zijin Mining industry fell 1.8 percent to 4.30 yuan. Aluminum Corp of China sank 1.4 percent to 7.08 yuan.

China Petroleum and Chemical Corp, or Sinopec, dropped 1.4 percent to 7.18 yuan after Asia's biggest refiner posted a 35 percent drop in profit.




 

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