Chinese shares rise 1.84% on first trading day in May
BEIJING, May 5 (Xinhua) — Chinese shares ended 1.84 percent higher Monday, the first trading day of the month after the three-day May Day holiday, with airline and metal heavyweights leading the way.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index concluded the daily trading at 3,761.01 points, 67.90 points, or 1.84 percent, higher than the previous close.
The Shenzhen Component Index for the smaller stock exchange in Shenzhen gained 355.89 points, or 2.64 percent, to close at 13,860.78 points.
Combined turnover on the two bourses stood at 212.07 billion yuan (30.29 billion U.S. dollars), slightly lower than the 225.47 billion yuan of the previous trading day.
The Dow Jones index closed at closed at 13,058.20 Friday, up 48.20 points, its highest level in four months after U.S. jobs market data for April came out stronger than market expectations, which also buoyed Chinese investor confidence.
The Shanghai Composite Index, which covers both A and B shares, opened at 3739.80 points, extending the winning streak from the previous session.
However, Chinese shares rose sharply by 4.82 percent to 3,693.11 points on April 30, the last trading day before May. Some investors were cashing in and the Shanghai Composite Index dropped a low of 3696.70 points in intra-day trading, said Qin Hong, an analyst with Bohai Investment.
Helped by the booming travel demand in the May Day holiday, major airway shares boosted the index, with China Eastern Airlines surging 9.98 percent to 11.79 yuan and Air China, the country’s largest international airline, jumping 9.98 percent to 16.31 yuan.
Metal shares also led the gains, with Chinalco, the nation’s biggest aluminum maker, adding 6.29 percent to 23.16 yuan. Angang Steel was up 4.14 percent to 22.39 yuan.
Gold firms also contributed to the upward trend. Zijin Mining Group, China’s largest gold producer, gained 9.99 percent to hit 11.56 yuan. Zhongjin Gold Corp. and Shandong Gold Group both rose by the maximum 10 percent to hit 65.54 yuan and 130.90 yuan per share respectively.
Gold prices rebounded on Monday after a decline to a four-month low last week, which pushed the gold shares up, dealers said.
Rising issues outnumbered falling stocks by 803 to 43 in Shanghai and by 607 to 52 in Shenzhen.