B shares fall on weak sentiment
SHANGHAI B shares fell for a second day yesterday, hurt by the A-share sell-off and a weak Hong Kong market, according to traders.
'If locals don't support the B-share market, it falls,' said a trader with Credit Lyonnais Securities.
'Some US funds have also started selling B shares as well as H shares in Hong Kong,' said Samson Chau of Peregrine Brokerage.
The Credit Lyonnais Shanghai B Index fell 1.1 per cent to 870.52 points on trading worth US$6.46 million. The A-share index slid 264.72 points, or 6.86 per cent, to close at 3,593.17.
Real estate developer Outer Gaoqiao paced the decline, falling 4.3 per cent to 76.6 cents. The stock has outperformed the market in recent weeks after completing a successful rights issue.
Textile machinery maker Erfangji fell 1.6 per cent to 35.8 cents on trading worth $540,000.
China Textile Machinery plunged 10.6 per cent to 22 cents in light trading.
China's austerity programme has hit the textile industry particularly hard and most analysts say this is unlikely to change until next year at the earliest.
China Textile has been relying on property investments to prop up its earnings this year, according to Credit Lyonnais Securities.
The sell-off is partly a reaction to news that the country's two stock exchanges will ban day trades from January 1, next year, traders said. Investors can buy shares on credit if the trade is settled the same day, encouraging speculation, analysts said.
'A lot of traders were trading with cash they didn't have, so now people just want to get out as soon as possible,' said An Lu, an analyst with Nomura International.
Expectations the central government is preparing to further tighten credit to curb inflation also discouraged investors.
