Chinese shares end 1.57 pct lower in morning session

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-06-23 13:26

BEIJING - Chinese shares lost 1.57 percent in the morning session on Monday on still weak sentiment of investors after a 3.01 percent increase on the previous trading day.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index, which covers A and B shares, lost 44.37 points, or 1.57 percent, to 2787.36 points, while the smaller Shenzhen Component Index fell 0.02 percent to 9371.82 points.

Chinese shares had entered into a reasonable valuation range after the losses in recent weeks, but the investors sentiment is still too pessimistic currently, according to a recent industry report by China International Fund Management Co., Ltd.

The Shanghai Composite Index has shrunken more than 54 percent from the peak of 6124.04 points set on October 16 last year.

None of the top 10 heavyweights managed to rise.

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the country's largest lender, lost 1.35 percent to 5.11 yuan, with Bank of China down 0.24 percent to 4.19 yuan.

PetroChina, the country's largest oil producer, dipped 2.52 percent to 15.46 yuan, while Asia's top oil refiner, Sinopec, plummeted 6.39 percent to 12.01 yuan.

The country last Friday raised the benchmark retail prices of gasoline and diesel oil to 6,980 yuan (1,016 U.S. dollars) and 6,520 yuan per tonne, up more than 16 percent and 18 percent, respectively.

PetroChina and Sinopec jumped 5.14 percent and 4.53 percent respectively on Friday stimulated by the good news.

Electricity shares rose across the board on last trading day after the country announced to raise the electricity price by 2.5 cents per kilowatt hour from July 1.

Among the country's biggest power companies, Huadian Power International edged up 0.97 percent to 5.20 yuan on Monday morning, with Huaneng Power International up 0.11 percent to 8.80 yuan.

However, Guodian Power sank 1.29 percent to 6.88 yuan while China Datang Corp. fell 0.38 percent to 10.48 yuan.