2010-06-28 09:56

Agricultural Bank of China Ltd is scheduled to release a statement later today on the pricing for its initial public offering in Shanghai.

The bank is selling as much as $11.4 billion of stock in the Hong Kong portion of the sale, according to a filing to Japan's Ministry of Finance on June 24. Should it price shares on sale in Shanghai at the same level, Agricultural Bank would raise a combined $17.6 billion to $21.3 billion.

June's Purchasing Managers' Index will be released on Thursday. The index is expected to fall to 53.2 from 53.9 in May, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of 10 economists.

China's stocks fell for a third day on Friday, led by brokerages and industrial companies, on concern slowing economic growth will erode corporate earnings.

The Shanghai Composite Index, which tracks the bigger of China's stock exchanges, retreated 13.93, or 0.5 percent, to 2,552.82 at the close on Friday. The CSI 300 Index fell 0.8 percent to 2,736.29. The Shanghai gauge gained 1.6 percent last week after the central bank said it will increase the flexibility of the nation's exchange rate.

Citic Securities Co and Haitong Securities Co dropped at least 1.8 percent after stock trading values slid to the lowest in 18 months. Angang Steel Co lost 1.7 percent and Anhui Conch Cement Co, China's biggest maker of the building material, slid 1.9 percent.