New | Chinese markets climb by midday but advance stalls; Hong Kong surges
Stock markets in mainland China and Hong Kong closed higher by the midday break on Thursday as markets calmed down and punters began picking up shares of fundamentally sound companies although the advance in Shanghai and Shenzhen seemed to stall after an initial pop.
The Shanghai Composite Index closed the morning session at 2,972.57, up 1.55 per cent or 45.28 points, having gained almost 3 per cent in early trade. The CSI 300 went to 3,089.38, up 2.10 per cent or 63.69 points.
The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong finished the morning on 21,615.69 points, up 2.54 per cent or 535.30 points. The H-shares index traded to 9,751.22, up 3.43 per cent or 323.29 points.
“Now it is still too early to say a recovery is taking place. But clearly some people are buying in, given they feel the correction in the past two weeks has been overdone. And the rate cut and reserve requirement ratio cut did somehow lift sentiment,” said Eric Wu, a private equity analyst based in Shanghai.
“The volatility in the market seems to be decreasing after the rough performance in the first few days of the week. There were also less obvious dislocations in the market today than in previous days,” said Gerry Alfonso, an analyst with Shenwan Hongyuan Securities.
Companies in the transport, logistics, finance, and construction sectors led the Shanghai market, while the finance, energy and property sectors lifted Hong Kong script.
Oil major CNOOC (China National Offshore Oil Corporation) became one of the top gainers in Hong Kong’s morning trading, rising 14.5 per cent to HK$9.32. CNOOC reported a 13.5 per cent increase in net oil and gas production in its interim results, although sales dropped 34.2 per cent.
