China shares staged a weak rebound of 0.57 percent on Friday, led by gains in large-caps, after fears over an upcoming pipeline of initial public offerings pushed the key index down by nearly 5 percent a day earlier.
The benchmark Shanghai composite index closed at 1,665.208 points as turnover fell to a thin 24.5 billion yuan ($3.1 billion), down sharply from 39.4 billion yuan on Thursday, when the index tumbled 4.84 percent.
"Sluggish trading suggested investors had calmed down after yesterday's panic selling on IPO worries," said Li Shiming, an analyst at Galaxy Securities. "Most investors still believe this year's market rally will sustain. Strong sentiment pushed the market up today." Of the latest of many in the pipeline, Daqin Railway Co Ltd said on Thursday it planned to raise up to 15 billion yuan ($1.9 billion) in a Shanghai IPO next week.
Despite Thursday's strong correction, the index has still surged 43 percent since the start of this year, buoyed by a slew of official steps to boost the market, such as allowing brokerages to conduct margin trading on behalf of their clients. Analysts said they expected the index to find support at 1,500 points and resistance at 1,750 points next week.
Key oil firm Sinopec, the second-largest capitalised stock on China's domestic market, edged up 0.53 percent to 5.70 yuan after crude prices soared on global markets.
Benchmark US crude oil futures hit a record high of $78.40 per barrel on Friday, advancing for the fourth straight session, as Israel's air attacks on Lebanon increased tension in the Middle East. The latter supplies almost a third of the world's crude oil.
Shanghai Airlines Co Ltd, a regional carrier backed by the city government, expanded its morning session loss to close 4.51 percent lower at 2.54 yuan after it said on Friday it was likely to post a net loss for the first half of 2006. Analysts said surging oil prices had hurt the bottom lines of airlines across the world.
Zhuye Torch Metals Co Ltd, a unit of Hong Kong-listed Hunan Non-ferrous Metals Corp, fell 6.07 percent to 8.20 yuan. The company said on Friday it would issue 100 million new shares to buy lead-smelting assets from its parent Zhuzhou Smelter, which could have its earnings diluted.
However, Zhuye Torch said the purchase would make the listed company, already China's largest zinc producer by output, the country's third-largest lead producer.
Large-cap China Merchants Bank Co Ltd, the second-biggest Shanghai-listed lender, closed up 1.51 percent at 7.40 yuan, while Minsheng Banking Corp closed 3.13 percent up at 4.29 yuan.
But Bank of China, the largest capitalised stock on the mainland's bourses, fell 0.28 percent to 3.59 yuan in line with a fall of the lender's Hong Kong-listed H shares, which traded at HK$3.5 in late trade on Friday.