FINANCIALS RALLY SHARPLY ON LACK OF COOLING

 
By Neil Dennis in London and David Turner in Tokyo
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
 
Asian stocks climbed strongly yesterday with a number of the region's indices hitting record highs and China's market making further strong gains.

China's benchmark Shanghai Composite gained 2.9 per cent to 4,253.35 amid relief that the country's monetary authorities refrained from taking steps at the weekend to cool the country's economy and red-hot markets.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index hit a new record, closing up 2.7 per cent to 21,582.89.

Many had expected an interest rate increase after Wen Jiabao, China's premier, said last week that monetary policy would need to be tightened to rein in the runaway economy.

Banks and insurers – stocks with the most exposure to equity markets – rallied sharply after no action was taken by the People's Bank of China. Merchants Bank rose 8 per cent to Rmb23.98 while China Life Insurance gained 9 per cent to Rmb40.82.

Sichuan Changhong Electric climbed 10 per cent to Rmb10.92 after Microsoft of the US said it was paying Rmb94m ($12.3m) to take a small stake in the company and jointly develop digital entertainment products.

中国股市周一上涨2.9%

 
英国《金融时报》尼尔•丹尼斯(Neil Dennis)伦敦、戴维•特纳(David Turner)东京报道
2007年6月19日 星期二
 
亚洲股市昨日强劲攀升，该地区的许多股指都达到创纪录高点，而中国市场则进一步强劲上涨。

由于中国货币政策当局在周末没有采取冷却中国经济和炽热股市的措施，令市场松了一口气，推动中国的基准指数——上证综合指数(Shanghai Composite)上涨2.9%，达到4253.35点。

同时，香港恒生指数(Hang Seng index)达到创纪录高点，收盘上涨2.7%，至21582.89点。

在中国国务院总~理~温~家~宝上周表示要收紧货币政策、制服失控经济之后，许多人以为中国会作出加息决定。

但中国人民银行(People's Bank of China)没有采取任何行动，银行和保险公司的股票随后迅速重整旗鼓——这些股票受股市整体表现的影响最大。招商银行(Merchants Bank)股票上涨了8%，达到23.98元人民币；而中国人寿(China Life Insurance)上涨了9%，达到40.82元人民币。

四川长虹(Sichuan Changhong Electric)攀升10%，达到10.92元人民币。此前，美国微软公司(Microsoft)宣布以9400万元人民币（合1230万美元）购得四川长虹少数股权，并将联合开发数字娱乐产品。