Chinese shares down 0.9% on fall of surrounding markets

Investors chat at a securities exchange
in Shanghai, China, May 14, 2009. China's benchmark Shanghai Composite
Index on the Shanghai Stock Exchange closed at 2,639.89 points Thursday,
down 23.88 points, or 0.9 percent, from the previous close. (Xinhua/Pei
Xin)
Photo
Gallery

BEIJING, May 14 (Xinhua) -- Chinese shares dipped 0.9 percent Thursday, following a global market downfall triggered by unfavorable economic data in the United States.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index lost 23.88 points to close at 2,639.89. The Shenzhen Component Index edged down 0.41 percent, or 42.22 points, to 10,252.15.

Wall Street dropped sharply in early trading Wednesday after retail sales unexpectedly decreased in April for a second month.

Weak blue chips pulled down the market. PetroChina declined 1.35 percent to 13.11 yuan (1.93 U.S. dollars), and Sinopec lost 2.21 percent to 10.6 yuan.

Financial shares led the fall. China Merchants Bank slid 2.93 percent to 17.23 yuan, and China Ping An declined 2.75 percent to 40.37 yuan.

As China's government released a plan Wednesday to stimulate bio-industry, medical-related stocks bucked trend, with Zhangzhou Tian-Mu-Shan Pharmaceutical Enterprise Co. and Guilin Layn Natural Ingredients Corp. rising by the daily limit of 10 percent to 8.56 yuan and 24.08 yuan respectively.

According to the plan, China will support 11 national research programs with at least 62.8 billion yuan in 18 months to achieve breakthroughs in key technology development that included transgenic products, new drug development, and the treatment of major infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS and viral hepatitis.

The information technology sector gained 1.34 percent, as the programs also included an advanced new-generation broadband wireless mobile communications network, and high-end central processing units and software.

Combined turnover shrank to 191.2 billion yuan (28.11 U.S. dollars) from 222.89 billion yuan (32.63 billion U.S. dollars) Tuesday.

Losers outnumbered gainers by 443 to 409 in Shanghai. Gainers outnumbered losers by 367 to 365 in Shenzhen.

An investor sits at a securities
exchange in Shanghai, China, May 14, 2009. China's benchmark Shanghai
Composite Index on the Shanghai Stock Exchange closed at 2,639.89 points
Thursday, down 23.88 points, or 0.9 percent, from the previous close.
(Xinhua/Pei Xin)
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