Markets

Shanghai Index rises Thursday on energy, airline prospects

By Irene Shen and Zhang Shidong (China Daily)
Updated: 2011-02-25 13:09

SHANGHAI - Stocks on the Chinese mainland rose for a second day as surging oil prices boosted the earnings outlook for energy producers and airlines gained on prospects for increased infrastructure investment from the government.

PetroChina Ltd led an advance for energy companies as crude reached $100 a barrel in New York on Middle East tensions. China Southern Airlines Co climbed for the first time in six days after the industry's regulator announced a 1.5 trillion yuan ($228 billion) investment plan for the next five years. China Railway Construction Corp slid to a one-month low.

"Recent market losses because of the unrest overseas may be excessive," said Zhou Xi, a strategist at Bohai Securities Co in Tianjin. "Valuations and earnings growth will become dominating factors."

The Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.56 percent to 2878.60 at the 3 pm close on Thursday. The CSI 300 Index added 0.51 percent to 3190.94.

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The Shanghai gauge has fallen 0.7 percent this week, narrowing the 2011 gain to 2.5 percent on speculation higher oil prices may add to tightening measures to slow the world's second-biggest economy. The index plunged 14 percent in 2010.

A gauge of energy producers in the CSI 300 jumped 1.2 percent on Thursday, the most among the 10 industry groups.

PetroChina rose 0.7 percent to 11.53 yuan. China Southern rose 1.62 percent to 8.77 yuan. China Eastern Airlines Corp added 0.61 percent to 6.55 yuan. Air China Ltd climbed 0.77 percent to 11.73 yuan. China Railway Construction fell for a third day, slipping 0.13 percent to 7.43 yuan.

Huayi Brothers Media Corp gained 3.44 percent to 28.23 yuan, the biggest gain in two months. Net income jumped 81 percent from a year earlier to 152.6 million yuan, the company said in a statement.

Shanghai Pharmaceuticals Holding Co climbed 2.44 percent to 21.03 yuan. The company said it will invest 180 million yuan in the next six years to jointly conduct research and development of four drugs with Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-pharmaceutical Co.

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