China stocks edge up - July 27

BEIJING -- Chinese stocks edged up on Friday, buoyed by an overnight rally on Wall Street and a report showing profit declines in the nation's major industrial firms eased in the first half.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.13 percent, or 2.76 points, to close at 2,128.76, while the Shenzhen Component Index added 0.06 percent, or 5.23 points, to close at 9,087.13.

Losers outnumbered gainers by 524 to 389 in Shanghai and by 834 to 591 in Shenzhen.

Aggregated turnover hit 94.23 billion yuan ($14.89 billion), slightly down from 96.4 billion yuan the previous day.

According to government data, combined profit at China's major industrial enterprises fell 2.2 percent in the first half from one year earlier.

The pace of decline, however, was 0.2 percentage points lower compared with that for the January-May period, adding to new signs of a stabilizing national economy, analysts said.

The banking sector climbed 0.75 percent, with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the nation's largest lender by market value, up 1.36 percent to 3.72 yuan. Bank of China rose 1.12 percent to 2.72 yuan.

China Vanke, the nation's largest property developer, climbed 0.79 percent to 8.98 yuan, and Poly Estate, the second biggest, added 1.68 percent to 10.9 yuan.

Despite the slight gains, the Chinese market was still jittery as it braced for July's reading on the country's economy.

Brokerage stocks fell over concerns that the weak market may erode their profitability. Shares of Guoyuan Securities slumped 4.03 percent to 10.73 yuan while Huaitai Securities lost 3.85 percent to 9.49 yuan.

Non-ferrous metal sector also closed lower with Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel Rare-earth (Group) High-tech Co, the nation's largest rare earths producer, down 2.22 percent to 37.89 yuan.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average sealed its best day this month, following comments by European Central Bank president Mario Draghi that the bank would do "whatever it takes" to preserve the common-currency union from collapsing.

The Standard & Poor's 500 rallied 22.13 points, or 1.65 percent, to 1,360.02. The Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 39.01 points, or 1.37 percent, to 2,893.25.