Markets

Material shares hit markets

By Irene Shen (China Daily)
Updated: 2011-04-15 11:05

SHANGHAI - Stocks on the Chinese mainland fell on Thursday, driving the benchmark index down by the most in two weeks.

The decline came on concern the government's policy-tightening measures are slowing the economy without containing inflation.

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Jiangxi Copper Co paced declines for material companies. China Vanke Co and Poly Real Estate Group Co fell after the 21st Century Business Herald said Shenzhen may announce new measures to curb home prices. Shanghai Electric Power Co slid the most this month after the National Energy Administration said power consumption growth slowed.

"Investors are concerned about further tightening measures," said Tu Jun, a strategist at Shanghai Securities Co. "Uncertainty always peaks before economic data releases."

The Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.25 percent to 3042.64 at the 3 pm close. The CSI 300 Index slid 0.55 percent to 3353.56.

Reports from the People's Bank of China on Thursday showed new loans were 679.4 billion yuan ($104 billion) in March. The increase in loans compared with the median forecast of 600 billion yuan in a survey of economists.

China Vanke declined 1.46 percent to 8.80 yuan. Poly Real Estate lost 2.26 percent to 13.83 yuan. The 21st Century Business Herald said Shenzhen may fix price caps on new homes without presale permits and may stop presales of luxury homes, citing an unidentified real estate developer.

Shenzhen Development Bank added 0.78 percent to 18.19 yuan, the highest since Nov 11. The bank's first quarter net income may rise as much as 60 percent from a year earlier to 2.52 billion yuan, according to a statement to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

Jiangxi Copper lost 1.03 percent to 39.58 yuan. Anhui Conch Cement Co slid 3.53 percent to 40.15 yuan.

Shanghai Electric slipped 1.18 percent to 5.02 yuan. China's power consumption growth slowed in March from February.

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