JPMorgan Chase sells $44.6m worth CMB shares

JPMorgan Chase & Co reduced its H-share holdings in China Merchants Bank Co on Sept 10 for HK$346 million ($44.6 million), the latest foreign bank to sell part of its stake in Chinese banks, according to a document released by Hong Kong Stock Exchanges on Monday.

The sale was done at HK$15.06 per share with a total of 23 million shares, reducing JPMorgan Chase's stake in CMB from 8.29 percent to 7.79 percent.

The last time the investment bank cut its CMB stakes was in June in a share-dumping wave by foreign investors in Chinese banks.

Franklin Templeton Investments Corp also sold 4.7 million H shares in CMB at HK$14.3, reducing its stake from 11 percent to 10.9 percent.

Chinese banks need structural adjustment or a slackened monetary policy to sustain stock price growth, neither of which is available at present, according to JPMorgan Chase.

As a result, the investment bank suggested increasing shares in large commercial banks, such as Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd and China Construction Bank Corp while reducing investment in medium-sized banks.