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Shares decline on economic data release

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-05-11 15:53

After rising for seven consecutive trading days, Chinese shares declined 1.75 percent on Monday as caution returned upon the release of official economic statistics.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index declined 1.75 percent, or 45.9 points, to close at 2579.75. The Shenzhen Component Index dropped 3.09 percent, or 314.27 points, to 9868.79.

Related readings:  CPI falls 1.5%, PPI drops 6.6% in April  Chinese share up 0.38%, led by cement, machinery shares  NASDAQ-like board may launch in October  Stocks up for sixth straight trading day

Encouraged by a Wall Street rally on Friday, shares on both bourses opened higher and hit record highs of 2,663 and 10,347 points in the morning, but went lower despite the strong performance of blue-chip stocks.

China's consumer price index (CPI) and producer price index (PPI), the main gauge of inflation at retail and wholesale level, fell 1.5 percent and 6.6 percent, respectively, year on year in April, the National Bureau of Statistics said Monday.

The result was largely in line with market expectations and analysts' forecasts, but it still triggered profit-taking activities when investors sought ways to relieve the pressure building from previous gains, said analysts.

Coal, oil and alternative energy shares led the fall. Gansu Jingyuan Coal Industry & Electricity Power Co plunged 9.96 percent to 12.65 yuan, and Huayi Electric Company slid 8.21 percent to 15.31 yuan.

After the first swine flu case was confirmed on Chinese mainland, when a 30-year-old Chinese mainland male was tested positive for the A/H1N1 influenza, medical-related shares prospered. The sector had suffered strong sell-off pressure through last week.

Guilin Layn Natural Ingredients Corp rose to the daily limit of 10 percent to 19.9 yuan, and Daan Gene Co was up 10 percent to 12.43 yuan.