Shenzhen B Shares Hit Record Highest, Shanghai DownChina's hard-currency B shares went higher for most of the Friday session before they diverged late in the day.Shanghai's B-share Index, tracking U.S. dollar-denominated B shares, eased down 0.46 points, or 0.25 percent, to end at 186.45 points, registering losses for the first time in 12 days, according to Homeway, a leading on-line financial and securities advisory company in China. The Shanghai market today climbed to as high as 190.58 points in late afternoon, the first time it breached the 190-point resistance. Increased sellers towards the close of the day dragged the key index lower. In the meantime, Shenzhen's H.K.-denominated B-share Index rose for a fifth straight day, adding 4.96 points, or 1.35 percent, to finish at record 372.99 points. The Shenzhen market has been catching up with its aggressive Shanghai counterpart recently, hoping to speed the pace of advance. Since the Chinese government allowed local investors to trade B shares on Feb. 19, the Shanghai market has more than doubled while the Shenzhen market has nearly tripled. In Shanghai, turnover of B shares stood at 414 million U.S. dollars, which was nearly 90 percent of the total of Thursday's 466 million U.S. dollars. In Shenzhen, turnover enlarged to 2.74 billion HK dollars, over 50 percent more than Thursday's total of 1.78 billion. Losers beat gainers in Shanghai by 39 to 14 with two unchanged. The B shares will continue to get boosted next week amid bullish sentiment, Homeway analysts predicted. |
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