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Equities decline on new share sale concerns

(China Daily/Agencies)
Updated: 2009-12-26 07:04
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Equities dropped for the first time in three days, paring a weekly gain, on concern new share sales will divert money from existing equities.

Zijin Mining Group Co and China Shenhua Energy Co, the nation's largest producers of gold and coal, lost at least 1.3 percent as eight companies debuted in Shenzhen's ChiNext market for start-up companies on Friday.

Pharmaceutical firm Joincare Pharmaceutical Group Industry Co advanced as investors sought so-called safe havens that aren't easily affected by the economic swings.

The Shanghai Composite Index fell 12.06, or 0.4 percent, to 3141.35 at the close. It added 0.9 percent in the past five days, its first weekly gain in three weeks.

The CSI 300 Index, measuring exchanges in Shanghai and Shenzhen, declined 0.4 percent to 3424.78.

"The market will see a fluctuating pattern until the end of the year," said Wu Kan, a Shanghai-based fund manager at Dazhong Insurance Co, which manages about $285 million. "The market won't have a strong performance, unless the government slows down new share sales."

The Shanghai gauge has rallied 73 percent this year as government spending and a credit boom helped the nation's economy recover from its steepest slump in more than a decade. The index has dropped 1.7 percent this month as a flood of share sales diverted funds from existing equities and the government raised down payments on land purchases.

Mining stocks fall

Zijin Mining lost 1.9 percent to 9.47 yuan after rising 4.7 percent on Thursday. Shenhua fell 1.3 percent to 32.79 yuan. The stock gained 4.8 percent on Thursday.

Jiangxi Copper Co, China's biggest producer of the metal, lost 1.7 percent to 37.93 yuan. Zhongjin Gold Corp, the country's second-largest bullion producer by market value, slid 2.6 percent to 56.21 yuan.

Fresh listings

Eight companies including Jiangsu Huasheng Tianlong Photoelectric Co and Guangzhou Improve Medical Instrument Co jumped on the first day of trading in the ChiNext market for technology-heavy start-ups.

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They are the second batch of companies that have been listed on the market, adding to the first 28 companies that went public at the end of October. ChiNext has less stringent rules for listing compared with the nation's two main exchanges.

Mainland companies have raised 194 billion yuan ($28 billion) from initial public offerings this year, 87 percent more than the whole of 2008, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, as an improving economy lures investors.

Joincare Pharmaceutical advanced 6.3 percent to 12.17 yuan, rising for a fifth day. Zhangzhou Pientzehuang Pharmaceutical Co, a manufacturer of Chinese traditional medicine, gained 3.1 percent to 39.08 yuan. A measure tracking health-care stocks gained 1.5 percent on Friday, the second biggest among the CSI 300's 10 industry groups.