BEIJING, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- Chinese shares plunged more
than 5 percent on Monday, as investors dumped stocks amid liquidity concerns
sparked by the huge share sale plan of Ping An Insurance.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index, which covers
both A and B shares, tumbled 266.08 points, or 5.14 percent, to 4,914.44, while
the Shenzhen Component Index finished down 920.46 points, or5.08 percent, at
17,210.93.
The largest decline in six and a half months in
Shanghai followed a shrinkage of 1.6 trillion yuan (219.2 billion U.S. dollars),
or 4.9 percent, in total market value of the two bourses last week.
An investor reacts at a stock exchange
in east China's Shanghai Jan. 21, 2008. China's benchmark Shanghai
Composite Index on the Shanghai Stock Exchange closed at 4,914£®44 on
Monday, down 5.14 percent from the previous close. (Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>>
Losses led gains by 753 to 86 in Shanghai and 578 to 69 in
Shenzhen. Aggregate turnover expanded to 199.8 billion yuan (27.5 billion U.S.
dollars) from 183.8 billion yuan on Friday.
Analysts with Shenyin & Wanguo Securities warned
that investors should take every caution against the latest correction, which
had just begun, and that risks would overweigh opportunities in the near future.
Ping An's largest post-IPO capital raising and the
planned A share IPO of China Coal Energy Ltd. put pressure on liquidity in the
secondary market, said Zhang Gang, an analyst with Southwest Securities.
Ping An Insurance, China's second-largest life
insurer, said Sunday it plans to issue 1.2 billion A shares and no more than
41.2 billion yuan worth of convertible bonds. China Coal Energy, the nation's
second-largest coal producer, planned to issue no more than 1.525 billion A
shares on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.
The sell-off also came on the back of deeper concerns
that the worsening U.S. subprime crisis could affect the once isolated Chinese
equity market through other Asian markets, said Yi Yangfang, general manager of
the investment department with Guangfa Fund Management Co.
The crisis had bigger than expected impacts on Bank
of China (BOC) and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), Yi added.
Ping An Insurance plunged by the daily limit of 10
percent to 88.39 yuan. Its rivals China Life was down 8.76 percent to 48.22 yuan
and China Pacific Insurance was down 8.82 percent to 40.96 yuan.
Investors read stocks information at a
stock exchange in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality Jan. 21, 2008.
China's benchmark Shanghai Composite Index on the Shanghai Stock Exchange
closed at 4,914£®44 on Monday, down 5.14 percent from the previous
close. (Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>>
Banks fell sharply. Small-sized city commercial lender
Bank of Ningbo plunged 8.44 percent to 18.66 yuan. Heavyweight ICBC lost 3.82
percent to 7.56 yuan and BOC shed 4.14 percent to 6.25 yuan.
Oil, property, steel, and nonferrous metals also
posted heavy losses.
PetroChina, which accounts for about 25 percent of
the Shanghai Composite Index, fell 5.53 percent to 27.48 yuan, the lowest
closing since its record high of 48.62 yuan on its debut on Nov. 5. China
Petroleum and Chemical Corp. (Sinopec) dropped 5.48 percent to 19.99.
Baoshan Iron and Steel tumbled 7.77 percent to 16.37
yuan. China Merchants Property Development was down 9 percent to 55.99 yuan.
Zhongjin Gold was down 7.90 percent to 111.40.
The sharp fall in Chinese stocks echoed heavy losses
in other Asian markets as the U.S. government's stimulus plan failed to allay
investors' fears over a U.S. recession.
On Friday, U.S. President George W. Bush announced a
stimulus plan, which requires approval by Congress, for about 145 billion U.S.
dollars worth of tax relief, in an attempt to ward off fears of a recession.
Hong Kong's key Hang Seng Index plummeted 5.49
percent to 23,818.86 and Tokyo's Nikkei 225 Index tumbled 3.86 percent to
13,325.94.
BEIJING, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- China's Ping An Insurance
Group plans to issue new shares and bonds worth billions of yuan to reinforce
its capital base and finance acquisitions, company sources said Sunday.
The nation's second largest life insurer will apply
for shareholders' approval to issue 1.2 billion A-shares traded on the Shanghai
Stock Exchange at a par value of one yuan (14 U.S. cents) each. Full story
BEIJING, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- Securities regulators hope to
open a new stock market in the first half of the year aimed at growth
enterprises, chairman Shang Fulin of the China Securities Regulatory Commission
(CSRC) said here on Thursday.
His comment was the first official confirmation of a
time frame for the establishment of the long-anticipated second board
market. Full story
BEIJING, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- China's central bank
announced Wednesday it will raise the required reserve ratio for commercial
banks by half a percentage point as of Jan. 25.
The ratio will be raised to 15 percent, the highest
since 1984. This increase, the first this year, comes a month after the ratio
was raised by a percentage point on Dec. 25.
The People's Bank of China (PBOC) said in a statement
that the adjustment, part of its stringent monetary policy, is to draw back
excess liquidity at banks and curb the overly fast credit growth. Full story
BEIJING, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- A senior researcher with
the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) on Sunday said the latest reserve
requirement ratio hike has revealed that China's excess liquidity has risen
beyond the expectations of the central bank. Full story
BEIJING, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) -- The People's Bank of
China (PBOC) announced Thursday it might use a variety of measures, including
bank and treasury bond issues and reserve requirement ratios, to control the
country's "severe" liquidity problem. Full story
BEIJING, Nov. 9 -- China's economic growth is
expected to exceed 11 percent for 2007 and growth in the consumer price index
(CPI), the main measure for inflation, will be around 4.5 percent year-on-year,
the central bank said Thursday. Full story
BEIJING, Oct. 25 (Xinhua) -- China's consumer price
index, a key inflation indicator, rose by 4.1 percent in the first nine months
over the same period last year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS)
announced on Thursday. Full story
