Shanghai market gains nearly 4% at midday

By Lydia Chen  |   2008-7-7  |     ONLINE EDITION

SHANGHAI'S key stock index made a strong move as shares rallied across the board this morning.

The Shanghai Composite Index jumped 3.98 percent, or 106.39 points, to 2,776.28 at 11:30am.

Gainers in the Shanghai market outnumbered losers 801 to nine while one stock did not change.

The Shenzhen Composite Index, which tracks the smaller domestic stock exchange, was up a nearly identical 3.96 percent, or 32 points, to 839.19.

Market heavyweights such as China Petroleum & Chemical Corp, PetroChina Co and Industrial & Commercial Bank of China led the market higher in the morning session.

China Petroleum & Chemical Corp, or known as Sinopec, the country's biggest oil refiner, surged 5.10 percent to 9.90 yuan (US$1.44) while PetroChina, the biggest oil producer and the biggest market heavyweight, advanced 2.78 percent to 14.78 yuan.

Sinopec received 2.51 billion yuan in rebates on value-added taxes levied on gasoline and diesel imports in the second quarter, the Xinhua news agency said on Friday, citing the finance ministry.

ICBC, the second largest heavyweight in the Shanghai market, was among rising lenders in the early session.

ICBC gained 2.92 percent to 4.94 yuan. China Merchants Bank Co, the nation's biggest dual-currency credit-card issuer, increased 6.15 percent to 22.60 yuan. China Citic Bank, a unit of China's largest investment firm, rose 5.16 percent to 5.50 yuan.

Citic Bank said it expects first-half profit to rise more than 150 percent on higher interest revenue. Net income was 3.2 billion yuan a year earlier. China Merchants said its first-half profit may have more than doubled as the company extended more loans. Net income was 6.12 billion yuan a year earlier. Both banks cited unaudited preliminary figures.

Air China, the nation's largest carrier by market value, leaped the daily cap of 10 percent to 9.52 yuan while China Southern Airlines also soared 10 percent to 7.92 yuan.