Chongqing Rural Commercial Bank, which faces a government probe, dropped almost 2 per cent yesterday, one of several stocks hit by growing investor unease about the investigation sparked by the arrest of former Chongqing party head Bo Xilai .
It closed down 1.87 per cent at HK$3.68, while the Shanghai Composite Index closed up 28.2 points, or 1.2 per cent, at 2,406.86, and the CSI 300 Index advanced 1.2 per cent to 2,626.84.
Chongqing Rural Commercial Bank's share-price fall came despite its announcement that net profit in the first quarter jumped 28.4 per cent to 1.4 billion yuan (HK$1.72 billion).
Short-selling interest in the stock had doubled to 1.8 per cent of total shares on issue over the last five days, according to UK-based researcher Data Explorers. Half of the shares available for borrowing are out on loan, and its share price has lost 11 per cent over the past week.
CC Land Holdings, another mainland developer heavily exposed to Chongqing, lost 3.7 per cent over the week, even though its 2011 profit rose to 416.8 million yuan, from 255.6 million yuan in 2010.
Longfor Properties, which has significant exposure to Chongqing, lost about 1.5 per cent over the week to close at HK$12.30 yesterday, despite a record 38.3 billion yuan in total property sales last year, including 10 billion yuan from Chongqing.