Chinese shares jump 3.32% led by blue chips

Special
Report: Global Financial
Crisis

BEIJING, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Chinese equities rose 3.32 percent Monday led by blue chip gains.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index jumped 3.32 percent, or 82.34 points, to close at 2,559.91. The Shenzhen Component Index rose 4.18 percent, or 397.15 points, to 9,899.67.

Gainers outnumbered losers by 919 to 13 in Shanghai and 793 to 8 in Shenzhen.

Combined turnover rose to 221.65 billion yuan (32.45 billion U.S. dollars) from 194.14 billion yuan on the previous trading day before the 3-day May Day holiday.

The rise came on the first trading day since the release of April's Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) on May 1, which rose for a fifth straight month to 53.5, up 1.1 points from a month earlier.

The PMI is the first economic indicator for April, offering a glimpse of the country's economic outlook. A reading of above 50 suggests expansion, while one below 50 indicates contraction.

"April's PMI figure brought confidence to investors," Yinhe Securities equity analyst Qin Xiaobin said.

"However, the March and April figures are usually the highest in the year given more projects usually open in the second quarter. In addition, the growth rate in April slowed compared with March. Investors should not be too optimistic," he added.

The steel sector led the gains Monday as new orders increased. Gansu-based Hongxing Iron Steel, Xinjiang Ba Yi Iron Steel, and Guangzhou Iron Steel all rose by the 10 percent daily limit.

Coal listings increased by an average of 7.9 percent driven by increased demand. Share prices for listed coal companies all rose more than 4 percent, including Shan Xi Coking, Datong Coal Industry and Shanxi Antai Group jumped to the 10 percent daily limit.

China Shenhua, the largest coal producer, surged by 7.93 percent to close at 26.69 yuan, and China Coal Energy was up 6.53 percent to close at 11.09 yuan.

Real estate sector also performed strongly as home sales in major cities increased.

China Vanke, the largest developer by market value, rose 3.77 percent to close at 8.8 yuan. Poly Real Estate Group was up 2.94 percent to 19.99 yuan and Gemdale Corp. up 4.06 percent to close at 12.82 yuan.

Chinese listed companies net profit up
450% in Q1

BEIJING, May 4 (Xinhua) -- The combined net profit of all
the 1,624 listed companies in the Chinese mainland hit 203.8 billion yuan (about
30 billion U.S. dollars) in the first quarter, up 450.39 percent from the last
quarter in 2008, reports from the country's two main exchanges showed Monday.

Among them, 1,186 companies reported gains, taking up
73.03 percent of the total. The number of companies suffering losses increased
nearly 200 compared with the same period last year to 436. Full story

China's cabinet decides to support
economic zone to boost mainland-Taiwan co-op

BEIJING, May 4 (Xinhua) -- The State Council, China's
cabinet, on Monday passed a plan to support the development of the economic zone
on the western side of the Taiwan Straits.

The plan adopted at an executive meeting of the State
Council is aimed to boost development in a region led by Fujian Province and
promote cooperation between the region and Taiwan. Full story