Hong Kong shares rise to near 2-month high, China also gains

Business & Markets 2013
Written by Reuters
Monday, 06 May 2013 12:38
A + / A - / Reset

HONG KONG (May 6): Hong Kong shares climbed to their highest in
almost two months on Monday, while onshore China markets rose to a
two-week high, buoyed by robust gains for commodities-related
counters as prices in physical markets soared.
By midday, the Hang Seng Index was up 1 percent at 22,909.6 points,
its highest since March 12. The China Enterprises Index of the top
Chinese listings in Hong Kong was up 1.5 percent.
The CSI300 of the leading Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share listings rose
1 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.9 percent, moving
further from its 200-day moving average after struggling at that technical
level for much of April.
"The active money in the market still remains quite short term, and today it's chasing stocks that were relative
underperformers last week," said Jackson Wong, Tanrich Securities' vice-president for equity sales.
Jiangxi Copper jumped 5.4 percent in Hong Kong and 3.4 percent in Shanghai after Shanghai coper futures climbed by their 5
percent limit, catching up with strong gains last week after a positive U.S. April jobs report.
Monday's gains were pared after Reuters reported that China's top refined copper producer shut a 100,000-tonnes-a-year
facility over the weekend due to a shortage of scrap and will bring forward maintenance at two facilities with combined
capacity of near 450,000 tonnes a year.
Jiangxi Copper dived more than 3 percent in Hong Kong last week and is still down more than 22 percent on the year,
compared to a 3.7 percent slide on the China Enterprises Index.
Stronger oil prices also buoyed Chinese oil majors. CNOOC rose 1.7 percent, while China Petroleum and Chemical Corp
(Sinopec) climbed 1.7 percent in Hong Kong and 1.6 percent in Shanghai.
China Oilfield Services (COSL) spiked 4.8 percent to its highest since April 12 after Deutsche Bank upgraded it from "hold" to
"buy" on better growth prospects, with CNOOC's impending ramp-up of its offshore China production in 2014-2016 as likely
to benefit COSL.
DATA LATER THIS WEEK
Beijing is due to release April economic data later this week, starting with trade on Wednesday and inflation on Thursday, with
money supply and loan growth expected from Friday.
On Monday, the HSBC services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) fell to 51.1 in April from 54.3 in March, its lowest since
August 2011, with new order expansion the slowest in 20 months and staffing levels in the service sector decreasing for the
first time since January 2009.
Still, Sa Sa International Holdings Ltd rose 3.8 percent after Citi Research analysts raised the cosmetic retailer's target price
by 45 percent following strong sales growth during the Labour Day holiday.
Same-store sales growth for Sa Sa grew 17 percent in Hong Kong and Macau over the April 29-May 1 holiday, while retail
sales jumped 25 percent.
Trading in the shares of China Resources Gas Group and China Resources Power were ssuspended on Monday morning, with
both likely to be merged to form an enegy group worth nearly a combined $22 billion.