Chinese share prices rebounded sharply on Monday in line with other Asian markets following Wall Street's resurgence at the end of last week after the Federal Reserve cut a key interest rate.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index went up 248.28 points or 5.33 percent, the highest daily rise this year, to conclude trading at 4,904.85 points on a transaction volume of 147.06 billion yuan (US$19.4 billion). The performance indicator moved between 4,758.4 and 4,906 points.
The Shenzhen Component Index on the smaller stock market rose 900.8 points or 5.74 percent to end the day at 16,589.8 points on a business turnover of 77.149 billion yuan (US$10.2 billion).
The two bourses recorded a combined turnover of 219.8 billion yuan (US$29 billion), up from 207.1 billion yuan last Friday.
The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), China's largest state-owned commercial bank, jumped 9.57 percent to 7.09 yuan per share. The Bank of China rose 5.9 percent to 6.1 yuan per share.
Sinopec, China's largest oil refiner, rose 5.3 percent. China Merchants Bank rose by 8.73 percent. Bao Steel Group soared to the daily limit of 10 percent. Vanke, China's largest property firm, climbed 7.2 percent.
Analysts said institutional investors had renewed confidence after panic selling of blue-chips last week in reaction to falling Asian markets, a result of the mortgage woes in the United States.
Stock markets in Japan, Hong Kong and the Republic of Korea rose on Monday as traders and investors welcomed Wall Street's gains after the Fed cut its key discount rate a half percentage point to 5.75 percent -- a move that sent the Dow Jones industrial average to surge 233.3, or 1.82 percent, to close at 13,079.08 on Friday.
Following the Fed's action, Japan's central bank on Monday injected one trillion yen (US$8.8 billion) into money markets in a bid to curb rises in key interest rates -- the latest in a series of infusions this month.
Major central banks including the United States Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank have also injected billions of dollars in recent weeks in a coordinated action.
Analyst said the market might continue to rise in the short term as investors would maintain optimistic.
(Xinhua News Agency August 20, 2007)
