China stocks fell on Friday, weighed down by financial heavyweights, after the securities regulator said it would accelerate approval of initial public offerings in an apparent effort to cool the red-hot market. But the main indexes, which dropped over 2 percent in morning trading, recouped most of their losses by the end of the day, signalling strong interest from bargain hunters.
And Shenzhen's start-up board ChiNext closed at a record high, as investors were inspired by its US counterpart the Nasdaq Composite. The Nasdaq closed at an all-time high on Thursday, surpassing a 2000 record set just before the dotcom crash. "Any correction at this stage would be natural, but the bull run isn't over," said David Dai, Shanghai-based investment director at Nanhai Fund Management Co. "Regulators want to see a long and steady bull market, but recently, the market has shown signs of over-heating."
The CSI300 index of the largest listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen fell 0.8 percent, to 4,702.64, while the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.5 percent, to 4,393.69 points. For the week, CSI300 rose 2.3 percent while the Shanghai Composite gained 2.5 percent. They have surged around 80 percent in late November on expectations that the government will roll out more stimulus measures to support the cooling economy.
The CSI300 Banking Index slumped 2.9 percent, but the transportation subindex rose 2.4 percent. Shares of trainmakers CSR Corp Ltd and China CNR Corp both jumped by their 10 percent daily limit, after CSR said it got regulatory approval to issue additional shares in Hong Kong as it moves toward a merger with CNR. Most of the 23 listed units of Aviation Industry Corp of China (AVIC) also rose, bucking the broader trend, after the aviation conglomerate partnered with the Shanghai Stock Exchange to allow its listed units to have easier access to capital markets.
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