HKEx resuming closing auction

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd (HKEx) will reintroduce a daily auction to set closing stock prices and impose temporary price controls to limit extreme share moves. The system, which seeks a single price to maximize the number of buy and sell orders matched at the end of the trading day, would apply to heavily-traded stocks and impose an order entry band of 5 percent during the auction, the local bourse said on Friday. It said the volatility-control mechanism would prevent a stock from moving 10 percent or more during a five-minute period, once a session. A closing auction would bring HKEx in line with most developed markets and help institutional investors, who account for about 58 percent of turnover, improve their ability to track indexes by executing trades at the close.

Yuan climbs on economy stimulus

The renminbi saw its biggest weekly gain since May on Friday amid signs the mainland will keep opening up its economy to foreign investors. The liberalization of financial markets will be accelerated, People's Bank of China (PBOC) Governor Zhou Xiaochuan said on Thursday. The Chinese mainland wants to boost global use of the renminbi to support its case to have the International Monetary Fund (IMF) add it to a basket of reserve currencies at a review in November. The official Purchasing Managers' Index released on Wednesday showed manufacturing expanded for a fourth month in June. "The PBOC's aim to open up financial markets will benefit its ambition to have the IMF grant the renminbi reserve status, which will support the currency in the near term," said Zhu Lixu, a Shanghai-based analyst at Xiangcai Securities Co Ltd.

Longfor sales advance 6.7%

Longfor Properties Co Ltd said that for the first six months ended June 30, 2015, it achieved aggregated contracted sales of 21.6 billion yuan ($3.5 billion), representing a year-on-year growth of 6.7 percent. During the period, total contracted sales in terms of gross floor area amounted to 1.8 million square meters, representing a decline of 2.9 percent from a year ago. During the six months, the company's average selling price rose by 9.9 percent year-on-year. Meanwhile, the group maintained a high cash collection ratio of 90 percent. Last month, Longfor recorded contracted sales of 6.79 billion yuan - up 68.5 percent from May and an increase of 47.6 percent from a year ago. Contracted sales in terms of gross floor area reached 368,000 square meters. The company's share price slid 1.16 percent at the close of trading on Friday.

Fosun sees 50% surge in profit

Fosun International Ltd said on Friday its profit attributable to owners of the parent company for the first six months ended June 30, 2015, is expected to increase by more than 50 percent, compared with the same period last year. The board said the expected substantial increase in profit is mainly attributable to the rapid development of the company's insurance segment, which has undergone substantial growth in the first six months of this year, and also the steady increase in profit derived from the company's investment business. Fosun's share price plunged 5.96 percent to close at HK$16.74 apiece on Friday.

China Daily - Bloomberg

(HK Edition 07/04/2015 page7)