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Shares mixed, M&A hopes boost airlines

(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-12-30 07:55

Mainland stocks closed mixed in light trade yesterday. Airlines soared on speculation about possible merger activity in the industry, while coal shares sagged after coal miners failed to agree with power producers on next year's annual supply contracts.

The Shanghai Composite Index spent most of the day lower but ended down just 0.06 percent at 1850.48 points, posting its sixth straight day of losses.

Related readings:  Chinese shares close 0.06% down, led by heavyweights  Shares close 0.05% down with record weekly loss in 11 weeks  Chinese shares open flat  Chinese shares open 1.25% lower on weak confidence

Turnover in Shanghai A shares was small at 37 billion yuan against Friday's 34.8 billion yuan.

The index held on a closing basis support on its Dec 1 intra-day low of 1838 points, which roughly coincides with the 61.8 percent retracement of its rise from October's multi-month low of 1664 points.

Any clean break of that support would be technically bearish, confirming the creation of a head & shoulders pattern formed by the November and December peaks, and pointing back down to the October low.

Shanghai Airlines jumped its 10 percent daily limit to 5.02 yuan in the last 20 minutes of trade and Air China gained 6.86 percent to 4.36 yuan, apparently because of fresh talk that the government might push for mergers as a way to strengthen the sector.

Property shares were mixed after the China Securities Journal reported that Shanghai authorities had issued eight rulings designed to stimulate the real estate market by facilitating purchases of second homes; for example, a family's maximum subsidized housing loan would be raised to 600,000 yuan from 200,000 yuan.

Vanke rose 1.23 percent to 6.61 yuan.

HSI slightly up

Hong Kong shares snapped four days of declines to finish 1 percent higher yesterday as rising oil prices lifted commodity stocks, but price movements were exaggerated by slim turnover in another holiday-shortened week.

Financial stocks weighed down the broad market on looming concerns over banks' earnings.

The Hang Seng Index ended 144.34 points higher at 14328.48 after dropping to 13924.32 earlier.

Turnover fell to HK$21.9 billion, the lowest in a full trading day in more than two years.

The China Enterprises Index of top locally listed mainland firms rose 1.5 percent to 7797.78, led by a 3.1 percent rally in Asia's biggest oil & gas producer, PetroChina.