Shanghai shares fall back on profit taking

---

SHANGHAI stocks retreated this morning, dragged down by major lenders, as investors locked in profits after the market advanced to a four-month high yesterday.

The key Shanghai Composite Index shed 0.07 percent to 2,283.80 points. Turnover reached 57.2 billion yuan (US$9.2 billion) by midday.

The market sank in a downward correction because the index reached an overbought level after it surged almost 20 percent from a four-year low of 1,949, Xiangcai Securities said today.

The broker expects the market to regain momentum soon because of higher corporate earnings and smooth cash flow.

However, growing funding pressure continued to weight on market sentiment. Data from the China Securities Regulatory Commission showed that 32 firms filed for initial public offerings on Chinese bourses in the first week of 2013, bringing the number of companies seeking IPOs to 882.

PricewaterhouseCoopers expected about 200 domestic IPOs in 2013, raising between 130 billion yuan to 150 billion yuan, up 20 to 39 percent from last year's 108.3 billion yuan, the accounting firm said in a report yesterday.

ICBC, the nation's largest lender, lost 1.2 percent to 4.18 yuan. China Construction Bank decreased 1.1 percent to 4.68 yuan. Shanghai Pudong Development Bank fell 0.9 percent to 10.23 yuan.

Brokerages also declined. China Merchants Securities Co fell 1.5 percent to 10.22 yuan. Sinolink Securities Co sank 1.5 percent to 17.36 yuan. Haitong Securities Co shed 1 percent to10.16 yuan.

---