Robust New Home Sales in Shanghai

Chandrasekhar Atreya
14 Sep, 2010
New York City

Stocks in China region traded marginally higher after in a volatile trading searching for a direction. Sales of new homes in Shanghai rose for the third week in a row and home loans dropped for the first time in August. First half investment in seven strategic industries surges 67%.

[R]5:00 PM Hong Kong, China – Stocks in China region traded marginally higher after in a volatile trading searching for a direction. Sales of new homes in Shanghai rose for the third week in a row and home loans dropped for the first time in August. First half investment in seven strategic industries surges 67%.[/R]

Mainland China stocks fluctuated as many as ten times but closed marginally higher and stocks in Hong Kong followed the pattern in the day’s trade.

The CSI 300 Index in China added 0.09% or 2.69 to close at 2,965.01. The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong added 0.17% or 37.69 to close at 21,696.04.

New home sales rose for the third week in a row in Shanghai as buying sentiment continued unabated during the traditional high season for home purchases.

A total of 256,000 square meters of new homes, excluding those designated for relocated residents were sold between September 6 and September 12 in Shanghai, a 6% increase from a week earlier, Shanghai Uwin Real Estate Information Services Co said Monday.

Home loans dropped in August for the first time as buyers resorted to a wait-and-see attitude right until July due to tight credit policies introduced by the government.

In August individual mortgages fell 1.06 billion yuan in Shanghai compared to a rise of 17.3 billion yuan a year ago, the local headquarters of the PBOC said Monday.

Apple Inc said Monday it would launch Wi-Fi iPad models on the Chinese mainland on Friday, five months after the tablet computer debuted in the U.S. These will be available starting from 3,988 yuan for the 16 GB model at the two Apple retail stores in Beijing and Shanghai.

Google Inc’s share of the mobile search market on the mainland China dropped by half after the world’s biggest online search engine withdrew from the market, according to a Beijing-based technology research firm.

Google’s market share dropped to a record low of 12.3% at the end of June, from 23.6% from a year ago, Analysys International said Monday.

Investment in seven strategic industries including information technology, biology and energy-efficient cars jumped 67% in the first half of the year from a year earlier, a Beijing-based investment consulting firm said Monday.

For the six months to June, these industries attracted 202 investments worth $1.46 billion for a 67% jump according to Zero2IPO Ltd.

Shanghai and California will boost links in technology innovation and environmental protection with the signing of agreements in Shanghai Monday.

The Bay Area Council signed two agreements with the Private Equity Association of Shanghai and Shanghai Municipal Commerce Council to develop the city’s venture capital market and a high-tech park in Yangpu District.

Six high-tech firms secured 340 million yuan from Pudong New Area government via its two venture capital firms on Monday.

The investment is part of Pudong’s 2 billion yuan project to attract high-end professionals to start up firms in the area. The government set up two state-owned venture capital firms, Pudong Science and Technology Investment Co and Zhangjiang Science and Technology Investment Co to offer capital to companies with great potential.

France based Alstom signed an agreement with China’s CNR Corp and Shanghai Electric Group to form a strategic partnership and jointly develop new markets for mass transit products.

China’s Ningbo Port plans to raise up to 7.4 billion yuan through its plan to list the company share in Shanghai and issue 2 billion yuan-denominated A shares priced between 3.18 yuan to 3.7 yuan per share.

Winsway Coking Coal and four other mainland firms aim to raise as much as $2.1 billion from IPO offerings in Hong Kong. The other four firms are property developer Sunac China Holdings Ltd, SITC International Ltd, Boshiwa International Holdings Ltd and Besunyen Holdings Co Ltd.