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Chinese shares up 2.55%, led by real estate and airlines

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-07-24 19:42

BEIJING - Chinese shares rebounded strongly on Thursday after two days of weakness, driven higher by real estate and airline large-caps, as well as gains on Wall Street and other Asian markets.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index jumped 2.55 percent or 72.44 points, finishing at 2,910.29. The Shenzhen Component Index closed at 10,005.99 points, up 2.79 percent, or 271.27 points.

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Combined turnover expanded to 116.2 billion yuan (about US$17 billion) from Wednesday's 97.16 billion yuan. More than 30 stocks on the two bourses rose by the daily limit and fewer than 50 stocks fell. Gains outnumbered losses by 854-22 in Shanghai and 696-24 in Shenzhen.

Property shares shared in the turnaround on bargain hunting.

Remarks over the weekend by the chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission, Liu Mingkang, that the country would support a healthy real estate industry supported the long-term uptrend of the real estate sector, dealers said.

More than 10 property developers rose by the daily limit of 10 percent. Poly Real Estate Co. jumped 9.95 percent to 16.9 yuan, while COFCO Property surged 10.05 percent to 6.68 yuan.

The airline sector continued its strong performance as world oil prices dipped to a seven-week low, with Air China up 2.43 percent to 10.98 yuan and China Southern up 2.05 percent to 8.46 yuan.

China Eastern climbed 1.54 percent to 7.89 yuan and Shanghai Airlines was up 0.91 percent to 6.62 yuan, after China Eastern issued a public notice late on Wednesday denying market rumors of a merger between the two.

Also spurred by the oil price fall, Sinopec, Asia's top refiner, gained 2.97 percent to 11.43 yuan, while PetroChina edged up 1.25 percent to 15.4 yuan.

China Railway Group Ltd. announced on Thursday that its subsidiaries have secured six domestic infrastructure projects valued at 2.97 billion yuan; its shares rose 2.71 percent to 6.07 yuan.

Gains by heavyweights ended a stalemate between bears and bulls, said Liu Jiazhang, a Beijing-based Minzu Securities analyst, adding that the market could rebound further in the next few trading days.