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Wen's words spur stock index at midday

SHANGHAI'S key stock index rose in the morning session after Prime Minister Wen Jiabao said macro-economic figures for December would be better than expected over the weekend.

The Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.24 percent, or 4.62 points, to 1909.48 points.

The Shenzhen Composite Index, which tracks the smaller domestic market, was up 1.1 percent, or 6.46 points, to 592.31 points.

Premier Wen also said over the weekend the country plans to introduce more measures to boost economic growth.

China Eastern Airlines Corp fell 0.89 percent to 4.44 yuan after it posted hedging losses and warned of significant losses in earnings last year. China Eastern, the nation's third-largest carrier by fleet size, said it lost about 6.2 billion yuan (US$906 million) on fuel hedging contracts last year. Fair-value hedging losses totaled US$14.2 million in December alone.

Developers showed a mixed performance after China's house prices dropped 0.4 percent in December from a year earlier, the first decline on record. The decrease in prices across 70 major cities follows a 0.5 percent increase in November, the National Development and Reform Commission said last Friday after the market closed.

China Vanke Co, the nation's biggest listed property developer, fell 1.31 percent to 6.8 yuan while Poly Real Estate Group Co, the second-largest, rose 0.18 percent to 16.33 yuan.

Elsewhere, China Petroleum & Chemical Corp, Asia's biggest oil refiner said its unit and a company based in the central province of Hubei had received state approval for a 423 million-yuan ethanol plant. Sinopec lost 0.56 percent to 7.1 yuan.

China Shenhua Energy Co, the nation's largest coal producer, reportedly plans to bid for a stake in a coal unit Rio Tinto Group is putting up for sale. The stock edged down 0.36 percent to 19.39 yuan.

Gree Electric Appliances Inc, China's largest maker of home air-conditioners, dipped 0.11 percent to 18.19 yuan despite it saying its profit probably rose 50 percent in 2008 from a year earlier on lower costs.

Shanxi Guanlu Co, the Chinese aluminum smelter said it cut production capacity by 36 percent after metal prices and demand fell. The stock gained 4.39 percent to 4.52 yuan.



 

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