Chinese shares edge up after rebound by coal producers

BEIJING, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Chinese shares reversed an early decline to closely slightly higher Monday, with a strong performance by coal stocks.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index edged up 0.28 percent, or 7.52 points, to 2,652.78. The Shenzhen Component Index rose 0.4 percent, or 40.82 points, to 10,314.04.

Combined turnover increased to 180.19 billion yuan (26.50 billion U.S. dollars) from Friday's 169.5 billion yuan.

Shares in Shanghai tumbled below the 2,600 mark in the morning, as financial and real estate stocks led the decline.

A strong rebound in coal stocks reversed the trend as investors took the view that rising oil prices might push up demand for coal, analysts said.

China Shenhua, the nation's biggest coal producer, rose 3.16 percent to 28.05 yuan. Datong Coal Industry gained 9.84 percent to 37.73 yuan.

China Yangtze Power rose 4.11 percent to 14.94 yuan after it announced a 107.5-billion-yuan-purchase of generation units at the Three Gorges Dam, its parent company and the world's largest hydropower project.

The State Council, or cabinet, announced a support plan Monday for the petrochemical industry. The cabinet urged oil producers and refiners to improve their product mix. It also vowed to improve the pricing mechanism for oil products and establish an oil product consumption tax that would be favorable for petrochemical companies.

It also pledged to build 20 oil refining bases, each with a capacity of 10 million tonnes.

However, the news came out after the market closed, too late to have an impact on Monday's trading.

PetroChina, the country's largest oil producer, fell 1.52 percent to 12.97 yuan. Sinopec, Asia's biggest refiner, fell 1.23 percent to 10.46 yuan.

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