China shares mixed as late rally offsets losses
SHANGHAI, China --Chinese stocks were mixed Wednesday after a late-in-the-day rally in nonferrous metals and property shares helped to offset early losses.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.4 percent, or 10.90 points, to 2,446.30. During trading it dipped to an intraday low of 2,370.74.
The Shenzhen Composite Index, however, gained 0.4 percent to 697.15.
Share prices were lower throughout the morning but began rebounding in the afternoon as investors sought bargains after seeing share prices sink to nearly a 20-month low in recent sessions.
Poly Real Estate Group gained 6.8 percent to 14.45 yuan while China Vanke added 1.7 percent to 7.24 yuan.
Gold miners and other nonferrous metals were higher despite continued weakness in international commodity markets. Zhongjin Gold Corp. rose 1.8 percent to 35.17 yuan, Shandong Gold advanced 3.8 percent to 39.36 yuan and Tongling Nonferrous Metals gained 3.4 percent to 9.06 yuan.
Still, buying sentiment was weak, with investors still watching for market-boosting moves from regulators, said Zhang Linchang, an analyst at Guotai Junan Securities in Shanghai.
"Now people are looking to the government to save the economy, as well as the stock market," he said.
Banks and other heavyweight financials sank after the Dow Jones industrials lost nearly 140 points overnight, hit by disappointing news from JPMorgan Chase & Co. that revived worries about the scope of the troubles in the credit markets.
Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, the country's biggest lender, fell 2.9 percent to 4.75 yuan and Bank of China shed 1.6 percent to 3.59 yuan.
Airlines continued to decline, with Air China down 3.3 percent at 6.94 yuan and China Eastern Airlines losing 4.2 percent to 5.55 yuan.
In currency dealings, the U.S. dollar was at 6.8602 around 0800 GMT on the over-the-counter market, down from Tuesday's close of 6.8659. 