Chinese shares end mixed

Chinese stocks were mixed on Monday as Shenhua Energy began taking subscriptions for its massive IPO, though sharp rises in resources and energy blue chips pushed up the main index slightly.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell nearly 1 percent in the morning and edged up to a new record high of 5,506.064 points in the afternoon, before ending 0.56 percent higher at 5,485.013. Losers outnumbered gainers by 433 to 414, while turnover in Shanghai A shares was a one-week low of 140.8 billion yuan ($18.8 billion).
Traders said the diversion of money to IPOs was dampening the market slightly. China Oilfield Services said on Sunday it had attracted a near-record amount of subscriptions to its medium-sized IPO, suggesting Shenhua could draw even more money to its much bigger offer.
But the strength of demand for the IPOs was also stimulating interest in stocks in those sectors. Shenhua is China's biggest coal producer, and coal stocks were strong on Monday, with Pingdingshan Tianan Coal Mining up 2.79 percent to 47.14 yuan.
"The IPOs are only having a limited impact on market liquidity," said Zhu Haibin, analyst at Essense Securities Co. "What we see is that the IPOs are arousing enthusiasm for major industries such as banking, oil and coal." Among other blue chips boosting the index, oil refiner Sinopec surged 3.71 percent to 18.99 yuan. Interest in it is being fuelled by the upcoming Shanghai IPO of PetroChina, which was expected to be approved by regulators late on Monday.
Fund manager polls carried by official media on Monday sent mixed messages. A poll by the China Securities Journal found that after the index more than doubled this year, 84 percent thought the market was "overvalued", a record high.
But a survey by the Securities Times was much more positive, saying 72 percent of managers thought the index would be between 5,500 and 7,000 after three months. Most banking stocks rose before Tuesday's listing of China Construction Bank, which is expected to jump some 50 percent from its IPO price in its debut. China Merchants Bank gained 5.23 percent to 37.86 yuan.
Airlines were volatile, although less so than their Hong Kong-listed H shares, amid talk among foreign analysts and foreign media that Cathay Pacific might team up with Air China to buy shares in China Eastern Airlines, in an effort to block Singapore Airlines' alliance with China Eastern.
China Eastern rose more than 5 percent in the morning but ended down 3.81 percent at 21.94 yuan, though its A shares dropped much less than the 10 percent tumble suffered by its H shares. Air China was suspended.
Shares in China Southern, which could be left out in the cold by any tussle over China Eastern, sank 6.66 percent to 25.66 yuan, though big jumps in airline shares over the past several weeks meant much or all of Monday's selling was probably merely profit-taking.
Local analysts expect the deal for Singapore Airlines and a Singaporean state investment agency to buy a $918 million stake in China Eastern to go ahead, after the Chinese government's approval of the deal last month suggested top officials in Beijing were comfortable with it.
Second-tier commodities stocks were very strong with Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminium Manufacturing up its 10 percent daily limit to 58.93 yuan and Shenzhen Zhongjin Lingnan Nonfemet, China's third-largest zinc producer, up 6.49 percent to 60.70 yuan.