SHANGHAI, Jan 14: China stocks edged higher at midday on Wednesday, with strong gains for banking shares outweighing falls for manufacturing counters. The CSI300 index rose 0.4 percent, to 3,527.32 points at the end of the morning session. The Shanghai Composite Index was also up 0.4 percent, to 3,247.35 points. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index added 0.2 percent, to 24,271.10 points. The Hong Kong China Enterprises Index gained 0.6 percent, to 12,133.50.
The mainland bank index rose nearly 2 percent. ‘Bank shares are still relatively undervalued and have the potential to continue rising so they are likely to further rebound,’ said Tian Weidong, an analyst for Kaiyuan Securities in Xi’an.
Top CSI300 manufacturing index drags included Midea Group , a household electronics manufacturer, which dropped 2.17 percent and Yili Industrial Group, a dairy manufacturer, which fell 1.73 percent.
Yashili International Holdings, a unit of China Mengniu Dairy Co Ltd, dropped 5.7 percent on Wednesday after the Chinese milk powder maker warned that its 2014 annual profit was expected to fall about 40 percent. The price of milk powder halved in 2014, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and dairy manufacturers have been caught off guard by decreased demand. China CSI300 stock index futures for January rose 0.5 percent, to 3,536.2, 8.88 points above the current value of the underlying index.
The index measuring price differences between dual-listed companies in Shanghai and Hong Kong stood at 126.88. A value above 100 indicates Shanghai shares are pricing at a premium to shares in the same company trading in Hong Kong.
Total volume of A shares traded in Shanghai was 12.93 billion shares, while Shenzhen volume was 6.54 billion shares.
Total trading volume of companies included in the HSI index was 0.7 billion shares.
(AGENCIES)
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