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Mainland stocks climb to record

(chinadaily.com.cn/Shanghai Daily)
Updated: 2007-04-06 16:39

The benchmark Composite Index on the Shanghai Stock Exchange increased to 3,323.59 points at 15:00 on Friday, up 0.13 percent from the previous close.

Graphical chart of Composite Index on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. [stockstar.com]

The Component Index on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange increased to 9,268.23 points at 15:00 on Friday, up 1.17 percent from the previous close.

Graphical chart of the Component Index on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange . [stockstar.com]

Chinese mainland stocks advanced to a fifth straight record. Hong Yuan Securities Co rose on speculation the market's gains will spur trading and boost brokerages' revenue.

"Brokerages' first-quarter earnings are likely to be surprisingly strong," said Zhang Ling, who manages the equivalent of US$1.09 billion at ICBC Credit Suisse Asset Management Co inBeijing. "That has prompted a buying spree."

Industrial & CommercialBank of ChinaLtd. led lenders lower after the central bank ordered them to set aside more money as reserves for the sixth time in less than a year, removing 170 billion yuan (US$22 billion) from the financial system for lending, according to the Bloomberg.

TheShanghaiComposite Index, which tracks the bigger of domestic stock exchanges, rose 0.1 percent to 3323.59. The Shenzhen Composite Index, which covers the smaller one, added 1.4 percent to 889.20.

Hong Yuan Securities, the country's first publicly traded brokerage, surged 1.60 yuan, or 6.3 percent, to 26.90 yuan. The company said in January net income for 2006 leapt 28-fold from a year earlier.

The daily trading value for Shanghai's yuan-denominatedA sharesaveraged 88.1 billion yuan this year, compared with 23.7 billion yuan in 2006, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Finance Street Holding Co paced gains among property stocks after the company said first-quarter net income soared more than 30-fold from a year earlier.

Finance Street, a Beijing-based developer, surged 1.68 yuan, or the 10 percent daily limit, to 18.48 yuan. First-quarter profit probably jumped as much as 32-fold, boosted by sales of 1.96 billion yuan from office buildings, said the company in a statement today. It reported net income of 13.7 million yuan for the first three months last year.