Henderson Land Development and CNOOC Rise 2% on Weak HSI

On 23 June 2008, London's FTSE 100 index, Paris' CAC 40 index and Frankfurt's DAX 30 index increased by 0.2% and 0.8%. As for the American stock market, different sectors presented different trends. Agriculture stocks surged amid merger and acquisition news. Energy stocks rebounded between 2.5% and 3.3% under optimistic comments by Goldman Sachs, while auto and airline stocks continued their downward trends, falling between 6.5% and 17%. Financial stocks, due to downgraded ratings and massive layoffs planned by Citigroup, presented heavy losses. Lehman Brothers, AIG, MBIA and Ambac plummeted between 5.6% and 14%. Starbucks slid 5% as Goldman Sachs downgraded consumer product stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 0.3% at closing, to 11,842. NASDAQ dropped 0.8% to 2,386.

In the morning session of 24 June, indices of stock markets of Japan, Taiwan, Australia and South Korea saw sustained pressure for an upward trend. Nikkei 225 Stock Index closed at 13,851 in the morning session of 24 June, down 6 points.

Zhou Xiaochuan, president of the People's Bank of China, the central bank of China, claimed that the central bank will adopt stricter measures to combat inflation. The Shanghai Composite Index and the Shenzhen Component Index, which slid 2.5% and 1.4% respectively on 23 June amid shrunken turnover volume, rebounded and stabilized after further losses in the morning trading session of 24 June. At press time, the Shanghai Composite Index was at 2,756, down three points, and the Shenzhen Component Index was at 9,279, up 0.4%.

The Hang Seng Index, which dropped to a record low of 22,384 on 23 June, reached as low as 22,598 and as high as 22,731 in the morning session of 24 June. The Hang Seng Index was quoted at 22,672 at press time, down 42 points with a turnover amount of HKD 7.1 bln. New World Development Company Limited (0017) and Hang Lung Properties Limited (0101) slid 2.5% to HKD 16.3 and HKD 25.75 respectively. Sun Hung Kai Properties Limited (0016) rose 0.9% to HKD 116.40, while Henderson Land Development Company Limited (0012) rose 1.8% to HKD 52.25.

CNOOC Limited (0883) continued its rise by gaining 2% to HKD 13.08 amid increasing oil prices; China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (0386) continued its decline, losing 2.7% to HKD 7.68; while Aluminum Corporation of China Limited (2600) continued to slide, dropping 2.4% to HKD 9.50 due to its lowered profit estimate.

HSBC Holdings PLC (HSBC Holdings 0005) slid 0.3% to HKD 123.30 amid collective weak performance of financial stocks in neighboring markets; China Unicom Limited (0762) and China Netcom Group Corporation (0906) rebounded by 1.3% and 1% respectively, up to HKD 14.28 and HKD 21.00 per share. China Mobile Limited (0941) rose 0.2% to HKD 107.80 per share.


Source: aastocks.com

Date: 24 Jun 2008

CN01/MZ/AR/KM