Trade Surplus in China Widens, Stocks Rise

Mayank Mehta, Chandrasekhar Atreya and Sanjay Barot
12 Jul, 2010
New York City

Stocks in China region rallied after trade surplus widened in June. Net crude oil imports increased in May. Google

[R]5:00 PM Hong Kong, China – Stocks in China region rallied after trade surplus widened in June. Net crude oil imports increased in May. Google’s license is renewed. Gemdale, the developer, first-half transactions reach only 25% of annual target. Maoye Int''l wins land bids in Jiangsu and Liaoning.[/R]

Stocks in China rallied led by developers and banks, on better-than-estimated exports in June.

Stocks in Hong Kong also gained for the third day led by developers after a government official hinted that China may loosen its third-home loan policy.

Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong gained 0.44% or 88.77 to close at 20,467.43 and the CSI 300 Index in China gained 1.1% or 29.11 to close at 2,676.22.

China’s trade surplus widened to the highest this year after exports climbed more than estimated to a record in June. The gap widened and increased 140% to $20.02 billion from a year earlier with exports jumping more than 40% to the U.S. and European Union, the nation’s customs bureau said on its website today.

Exports to Russia climbed 84% in June while it surged 125% to Brazil after more than doubling in April and May, the report said. The increase in exports may have been due some forward trading before removal of export tax rebates for a number of goods including steel comes into effect from July 15, as announced by the finance ministry last month.

China, the world’s second-biggest crude oil consumer, increased its net crude oil imports to a record in June as demand rose and cost of crude oil fell.

Net crude-oil purchases climbed to 22.14 million tons from 17.65 million tons in May, according to preliminary data released by the General Administration of Customs on Saturday last.

Copper imports by China, the world’s largest consumer, fell for a third month in June after orders were cut following a slowdown in demand. Shipments of copper and its products into China declined 17% to 328,231 tons in June, the customs office said on Saturday.

Snapping its 15-months of gain, property prices in 70 cities fell 0.1% in May from April. New lending was 603 billion yuan, the least in three months, the Statistics Bureau said in Beijing today.

The property prices climbed 11.4% from a year earlier, compared with a record 12.8% increase in April, the bureau said in its statement. Meantime, the foreign exchange reserves of the nation had the least quarterly gain since 2001, climbing to $2.454 trillion by $7.2 billion, the report showed.

After uncertainty forced some advertisers in China to switch over to Beijing-based Baidu, Google will now have to fight for relevance after it was able to get the license renewed for operations in the country.

China renewed Google Inc’s license to operate in the country last week after the internet giant agreed and stopped sending Chinese users offshore to its Hong Kong site.

Baosteel Group Corp said in a statement today that Nissan Motor Co is evaluating it steel products in an effort to lower raw material costs.

This is the first time a Chinese steelmaker has been selected for evaluation as a possible global supplier to Nissan Motor, the Shanghai-based steelmaker said in its statement today on its Web site.

Shanghai Movers

Founder Technology Group Corp rose 3.4% to 4.19 yuan after the company said it raised 1.03 billion yuan in a rights offer. The company sold 468 million shares at 2.20 yuan each in the rights offer, it said

Gemdale Corporation added 3.3% to 6.74 yuan after the developer recorded a 37.3% year-on-year slump in transaction value in the first half of 2010 to 5.376 billion yuan, accounting for only 25% of the company''s target transaction value for 2010, reports 163.com, citing a company filing.

Jinzhou Port Co., Ltd closed unchanged at 4.80 yuan after Maoye International Holdings Ltd acquired a piece of land each in Huaian of Jiangsu Province and Jinzhou of Liaoning Province for nationwide expansion.

Luoyang Glass Company Limited fell 0.4% to 8.34 yuan after the company said it plans to set up a manufacturing unit in Xinjiang province with registered capital of 9 million yuan, according to Bloomberg report.

The Pacific Securities Co., Ltd rose 1.2% to 11.28 yuan.

Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park Development Co., Ltd rose 1.8% to 9.56 yuan after the company said it plans to set up an equity exchange for non-listed companies.

HK Movers

Li & Fung Limited fell 0.6% to HK$37.55 after the supplier to retailers sold 10-year bonds to boost its acquisition war chest to $1.15 billion.