China key stock index ends 0.44% lower

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-11-25 18:37

BEIJING - China's benchmark stock index finished slightly lower on Tuesday, falling for a fourth straight day, despite a broad rally on Asian markets.

The key Shanghai Composite Index opened 1.49 percent higher, following overnight Wall Street rally. But profit-taking drove it down as much as 2.05 percent before bargain-hunting helped pare losses.

The index closed down 8.35 points, or 0.44 percent, at 1,888.72, extending a 3.7 percent decline on Monday after an expected lending rate cut failed to materialize over the weekend.

The smaller Shenzhen Component Index rose 22.81, or 0.35 percent, to 6,489.

Losers outnumbered gainers by 527 to 320 in Shanghai and by 435 to 272 in Shenzhen. Combined turnover was 66.1 billion yuan, down from Monday's 79.8 billion yuan.

Asian markets rallied, tracking the overnight 4.7 percent surge on Wall Street after the US government bailout of Citigroup. Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average gained 5.2 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index added 3 percent.

Coal and metal shares gained after rises in commodities prices, helping cushion the slump. China Shenhua Energy, the country's largest coal producer, rose 1.96 percent to 17.69 yuan. Jiangxi Copper advanced 1.8 percent to 10.76 yuan.

Most brokerages rose with the exception being Haitong Securities, which slid by the daily 10-percent limit for the third straight trading day since 1.29 billion of its non-tradable shares were released from from a lock-up period on Friday.

Citic Securities climbed 3.33 percent to 19.56 yuan and Sinolink Securities gained 2.62 percent to 23.11 yuan.

PetroChina, the largest component of the key Shanghai index, retreated 0.89 percent to 11.15 yuan. Sinopec, another heavyweight, dropped 0.87 percent to 7.96 yuan after crude oil price surged more than 9 percent overnight on New York trading.

Most banks posted losses. Hua Xia Bank lost 2.48 percent to 7.86 yuan and China Merchants Bank declined 1.52 percent to 12.35 yuan.