Icbccss&p500usd Discussion Threads

[knowing] 05/10/2007 08:38

HONG KONG (XFN-ASIA) - Share prices closed sharply higher as gains in major
blue chips HSBC, China Mobile and HKEx, and a surge in oil and gold counters
helped the market rebound strongly after falls over the last two sessions.
Dealers said fresh fund flows into the region from global investors as well
as from China helped the market sustain its strength throughout the day.
HSBC gained for the fourth straight session as the stock had underperformed
other benchmark index components this year, with investors now taking the view
that the banking giant may have put US credit market troubles behind it.
China Mobile tracked gains in its American Depositary Receipts overnight,
while Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing (HKEx) was lifted by broker upgrades after
turnover on the local bourse hit fresh highs this week.
Commodity counters got a boost after crude oil and gold prices rose
overnight in New York.
Dealers said investors focused on the largely positive local environment,
even as they await US jobs data due tonight.
The Hang Seng Index closed up 857.54 points or 3.18 pct at 27,831.52, off a
low of 27,203.91 and high of 27,843.59. For the week, the index is up 689 points
or 2.54 pct.
Turnover was 139.76 bln hkd.
Among large-caps, HSBC was up 1.80 hkd or 1.21 pct at 150.80, China Mobile
up 3.30 hkd or 2.61 pct at 129.90 and HKEx up 15.80 hkd or 6.92 pct at 244.20.
Among oil counters, PetroChina was up 1.14 hkd or 8.47 pct at 14.60 and
CNOOC was up 0.74 hkd or 6.29 pct at 12.50.
In the gold sector, Lingbao Gold was up 0.50 hkd or 7.46 pct at 7.20 and
Zijin Mining was up 0.92 hkd or 8.32 pct at 11.98.

[powerbook] 28/9/2007 07:26

are there any ETFs to play the main china indea (currently around 5500). i rang IG Index and they dont do any sb/cfds.

can anyone help?

[knowing] 27/9/2007 13:17

Hong Kong stock market to get major boost from China's new forex agency


HONG KONG (Thomson Financial) - Hong Kong stocks are expected to receive a
major boost from fresh capital inflow when China Investment Co (CIC), the
company set up to manage part of China's foreign exchange reserves, officially
opens this week, analysts said.
The CIC is due to open on September 29 and will manage 200 billion US
dollars of China's nearly 1.4 trillion US dollars in foreign exchange reserves,
according to the official China Securities Journal, citing sources close to the
matter.
Analysts said CIC is likely to allocate to Hong Kong 5-10 pct of the funds
it will manage, with investments seen in various asset classes such as equities,
real estate and investment holdings.
Fresh capital inflow expected upon its operation should boost investor
appetite for local blue chips as well as China concept stocks.
"Hong Kong is a clear beneficiary of possible capital inflows from China's
new company," said Philip Chan, research head at CAF Securities, a unit of
Agricultural Bank of China.
Chan expects the newly-established investment company to acquire key Hong
Kong assets including stocks with long-term growth potential and those with
investments in major infrastructures in the territory.
"Companies with stakes in major infrastructure in Hong Kong will be the
likely targets," he said.
Citigroup economist Joe Lo said he expects at least 2.2 billion US dollars
of the 200 billion that will be managed by CIC will be invested in the Hong Kong
stock market.
Of this amount, 1.5 billion dollars is likely to be allocated for blue chips
while the remaining 700 million will go to H-shares and red chips, Lo said.
"Based on how major portfolios are managed, Hong Kong can't be ignored as
among the markets to benefit from the fund," he said.

Acceptable risks

Apart from equities, Lo said China's new asset management company will
invest in corporate notes, real estate and other assets with "acceptable risks."
"It will be the asset management's mandate to obtain a higher rate of return
than foreign government debt held in the government's portfolio. I believe they
will invest in overseas equities and other instruments," he said.
The People's Bank of China, China's central bank, currently invests a
significant amount of its forex holdings in relatively low-yielding assets such
as US Treasuries.
Given the country's rapidly expanding foreign exchange reserves and the
resulting upward pressure on the yuan, mainland officials have been seeking to
channel some of this capital overseas.
The new forex investment agency has already made a 3-billion-US dollar
investment in big US private equity fund, Blackstone.
Analysts said they expect Hong Kong to be a key investment destination for
the new asset management firm, given the fact that the city has one of the
world's most active bourses, not to mention several listings of major China
firms.
Hong Kong ranked as the sixth largest stock market in the world in 2006 in
terms of market capitalization, with 1.7 trillion US dollars worth of shares
listed on the bourse.
"The market could rise by several points more if that happens," said Kitty
Chan, director at Celestial Asia Securities, referring to CIC investing a
sizeable amount of its funds in Hong Kong.
"It should support turnover over the next couple of months," she said.
"Investment of that amount has been widely expected by the market. There's a
lot of hot money that keeps helping the market trade higher," she said.
The Hang Seng Index has been hitting record highs continually since the
second quarter and breached the 27,000 level today, spurred in large part by
hopes of fund flows from the mainland.
The benchmark 40-stock Hang Seng Index ended Thursday up 634.86 points or
2.4 percent at a record close of 27,065.15, off a new intraday high of
27,166.01.
Volume traded reached 16.62 billion shares worth a record 147.05 billion
Hong Kong dollars.

Replicating GIC

Analysts said the investment firm could replicate a Singapore entity, the
Government of Singapore Investment Corp (GIC), which manages over 100 bln usd of
the city-state's foreign exchange reserves.
With presence in major financial capitals worldwide, GIC invests
internationally in equities, fixed income, foreign exchange, commodities, money
markets, alternative investments, real estate and private equity.
"It would be investing in major funds, like those in Singapore, and many
funds and markets are likely to benefit from the potential investment," said
Citgroup's Lo.
Apart from equities, analysts expect that the new investment fund will
provide a further boost to corporate activity in investment assets such as
commodities.
State media reported that the central bank's investment arm, Central Huijin,
will become a unit of CIC, focusing on bailing out near-insolvent banks.
The new investment company will have 11 board members, including three
executive directors, five non-executive directors, two independent directors and
one worker's director, the report said.
The three executive directors include are Lou Jiwei, a vice secretary with
the State Council, who will also be named CIC chairman; Gao Xiqing, the vice
chairman of the National Council for the Social Security Fund, who will be
appointed general manager, and Zhang Hongli, a vice finance minister.
The five non-executive directors will come from the central bank, the
National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the Ministry of Finance,
Ministry of Commerce, and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE).
They will include vice finance minister Li Yong, vice central banker Liu
Shiyu and SAFE head Hu Xiaolian.
The two independent directors are Wang Chunzheng, vice director of the NDRC,
and Liu Zhongli, a former finance minister, the report said.
The CIC's top seven officials, according to the report, are Lou Jiwei, Gao
Xiqing, Zhang Hongli, general manager of Central Huijin Xie Ping; chairman of
Central Huijin Wang Jianxi; director of the investment department of the NDRC
Yang Qingwei; and Hu Huaibang, secretary of the discipline inspection commission
of China Banking Regulatory Commission.

[knowing] 27/9/2007 10:36

BEIJING (XFN-ASIA) - Consumer confidence increased in August to 97.3 points
from 96.7 points in July, the National Bureau of Statistics said on its website.
The index stood at 97.5 in June, 96.7 in May, 96.2 in April, 95.2 in March,
95.8 in February and 96.3 in January, the agency said.
The index distills into a composite figure consumers' attitudes towards
current and future macroeconomic performance, their future earnings and plans
for purchases of major durable goods.
A sub-index measuring consumer satisfaction stood at 93.3 points in August,
compared with 93 points in July, 94.5 in June, 93.0 points in May, 92.4 in
April, 91.8 in March, 91.7 points in February and 92.1 in January.
A second sub-index measuring consumers' future expectations fell to 99.9
points in August from 99.2 points the previous month, after reaching 100.0 in
June, 99.1 points in May, 98.8 points in April, 97.4 points in March, 98.6
points in February and 99.1 in January.

[knowing] 26/9/2007 21:19

HONG KONG (XFN-ASIA) - The Hong Kong stock market's benchmark Hang Seng index is expected to rise to at least 28,000 points and may even hit 35,000 next year, UBS said.

[knowing] 24/9/2007 21:23

The Hang Seng index broke through the 26,000 level for the first time and
closed up 708.16 points or 2.7 pct at 26,551 on expectations that Chinese
investors will start investing in Hong Kong as early as next week after the
Beijing government relaxed investment rules.

[briarberry] 15/9/2007 23:43

September 14 – Bloomberg (Zhang Dingmin and Nipa Piboontanasawat): "China raised interest rates for the fifth time since March to curb the fastest inflation since 1996 and cool a surging stock market. The benchmark one-year lending rate will increase to a nine-year high of 7.29% from 7.02%..."

[briarberry] 13/8/2007 21:00

BEIJING, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Housing prices in China's 70 major cities rose in the second quarter by 6.3 percent from the same period last year, according to a survey by the National Bureau of Statistics and the National Development and Reform Commission.

[briarberry] 13/8/2007 10:34

China's Seven-Month Foreign Investment Rises 12.9% Through July

Aug. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Foreign direct investment in China, the world's fastest-growing major economy, increased 12.9 percent in the first seven months of 2007 to $36.9 billion, according to government statistics.

Spending by overseas companies rose from a year earlier to $36.9 billion, the Ministry of Commerce said today on its Web site. For July alone, foreign direct investment climbed 17.8 percent to $5 billion.

[briarberry] 13/8/2007 10:34

China's Inflation Rate Jumps to Highest in 10 Years

Aug. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Inflation in China, the world's fastest-growing major economy, accelerated to the highest level in more than 10 years, fueling speculation that the government may raise interest rates for a fourth time in 2007.

Consumer prices jumped 5.6 percent in July from a year earlier, after gaining 4.4 percent in June, the National Bureau of Statistics said today.

Food costs climbed 15.4 percent after a shortage of pigs pushed up meat prices and bad weather destroyed crops. The central bank is concerned that food inflation will spread, overheating an economy forecast to contribute more to global growth than the U.S. this year.

[knowing] 11/7/2007 09:29

BEIJING (XFN-ASIA) - China's National Bureau of Statistics said it has
revised upward its 2006 gross domestic product growth (GDP) calculations to
11.1 pct, or 0.4 percentage points higher than its previous estimate.
GDP reached 21.09 trln yuan in 2006, based on prices that year, up 146.4 bln
yuan from previous estimates, the bureau said.
Primary industries posted an added value of 2.47 trln yuan, up 3.7 bln yuan
from previous estimates, with growth of 5 pct from the previous year and
contributing 11.7 pct of the GDP.
Secondary industries posted an added value of 10.32 trln yuan, up 115.8 bln
yuan from previous estimates. The segment recorded a growth rate of 13 pct for
2006, contributing 48.9 pct of GDP.
Tertiary industries' added value was 8.30 trln yuan, up 26.9 bln yuan from
previous estimates, posting growth of 10.8 pct for the year and contributing
39.4 pct of GDP.

[knowing] 10/7/2007 20:19

Tuesday, July 10, 2007 10:30:00 AM ET
newratings.com

LONDON, July 10 (newratings.com) – China's trade surplus surged to a record $26.91 billion in June, more than 50% of which was due to rising exports, according to data released by the customs bureau. The previous monthly record was $23.8 billion, achieved in October last year.

The 87% year-on-year jump in the Asian giant's June trade surplus was largely attributable to rising exports. China's exports surged by a sharp 27% to a record $103.27 billion, while imports were up only 14% at $76.4 billion, the slowest growth in four months. China's trade surplus for the first six months of 2007 stands at $112.5 billion, up 84% year-over-year. This compares with a record $177.5 billion trade gap posted for all of 2006.

China's trade surplus with the US stood at $14.1 billion in June and at $73.9 billion for the first six months, according to the customs bureau. The Asian nation's trade gap with Europe was $10.9 billion in June and $57.4 billion in the first half. China has been facing widespread criticism for keeping the value of the yuan low, thus giving its exporters an unfair price advantage. China, in turn, has stated that it has been taking steps to curb the sharp rise in its exports by repealing several rebates of value-added taxes for exporters and imposing new taxes on some goods such as steel.

[briarberry] 02/7/2007 12:54

July 2 (Bloomberg) -- Manufacturing activity in China expanded at a slower pace in June, according to a survey of purchasing managers released today.

The Purchasing Managers' Index fell to 54.5 from 55.7 in May, the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing and the National Bureau of Statistics said in an e-mailed statement. That was the lowest reading in four months.

The index is based on a survey of more than 700 companies in 20 industries including oil and gas, oil refining, metallurgy, transport equipment and electronics.

[briarberry] 15/6/2007 19:57

not sure but I guess you'd need a US broker ?


iShares MSCI Hong Kong Index Fund - EWH

Last Sale $16.99

iShares MSCI Hong Kong Index Fund seek investment results that, before expenses, generally correspond to the price and yield performance of the MSCI Hong Kong Index.

[hectorp] 15/6/2007 17:50

Anyone got any idea how I can trade or buy, the EWH Hong Kong ( H share)
I-share.
Can I do so in the UK?
H.

[briarberry] 14/6/2007 14:11

WASHINGTON, June 13 - Four leading Democratic and Republican senators proposed legislation Wednesday aimed at penalizing China over its export practices and predicted that they would have the votes to pass it in Congress this year even if it was vetoed by President Bush

The United States trade deficit with China last year was $232 billion, about a third of the total American deficit with its trading partners. After years of accumulating trade surpluses, the Chinese are sitting on an estimated $1.4 trillion in foreign exchange

[briarberry] 12/6/2007 10:39

June 12 (Bloomberg) -- China's inflation accelerated to a more than two-year high in May as pork prices soared, increasing the likelihood that interest rates will be raised further in the world's fastest-growing major economy.

Consumer prices gained 3.4 percent from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said today. That was more than the 3.3 percent expected by economists. April's inflation rate was 3 percent, matching the central bank's 2007 target.

[briarberry] 11/6/2007 13:06

June 11 (Bloomberg) -- China's trade surplus rose a bigger- than-estimated 73 percent in May from a year earlier, increasing pressure on the government to allow faster currency gains.

The gap widened to $22.45 billion, the customs bureau said on its Web site. The median estimate of 18 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for a $19.5 billion surplus. For the first five months, the surplus grew 84 percent to $85.72 billion.

Surging exports spurred economic growth of 11.1 percent in the first quarter and drove foreign-exchange reserves to a record $1.2 trillion.