Mon, September 22, 2008
Chinese share prices surged to close 7.77 percent higher on Monday after China's securities regulator announced plans for further stimulus measures to boost the stock market, dealers said.
They said shares opened sharply higher but their climb slowed as nervous investors were eager to cash in on short-term profits.
However, the market's upward momentum remained strong with rising trading volumes amid Beijing's series of market-boosting measures and Wall Street's solid gains on Friday, traders said.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index, which covers A and B shares, closed up 161.32 points at 2,236.41 on turnover of 113.7 billion yuan (16.6 billion dollars)
"Trade volume in Shanghai passed the 100 billion yuan mark, meaning buying interest is currently very strong and still-positive sentiment will prompt further buying," Capital Securities strategist Amy Lin told Dow Jones Newswires.
China's securities regulator said late Sunday it plans to waive a rule requiring listed companies to seek approval from regulators before buying back their shares on the open market.
The proposal followed a series of market-boosting measures late last week, including canceling a tax on share purchases and a sovereign wealth fund buying up shares in major state-owned banks.
The Shanghai A-share index gained 169.46 points, or 7.78 percent, to 2,348.57 and the Shenzhen A-share index jumped 24.07 points, or 3.85 percent, to 649.41.
(Agencies)
