BEIJING: China’s stocks fell for the first time in four days amid concern about the earnings outlook for energy companies after oil prices slumped.
PetroChina Co., the biggest oil company, slid 1.5 percent and contributed to more than three quarters of the loss in the benchmark index. Citic Securities Co. paced a retreat for financial shares with a slide of 1.6 percent. Consumer companies extended gains before the Chinese new year holiday that starts Feb. 18. Beingmate Baby & Child Food Co. jumped 5.7 percent on Fonterra Cooperative Group Ltd.’s plan to buy a stake.
The Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.2 percent to 3,153.02 at the 11:30 a.m. break, with trading volumes down 42 percent from the 30-day average. Signs of a deepening slowdown in the Chinese economy are boosting concern earnings may grow at less than 10 percent, Jingxi Investment Management Co.
“The earnings growth for listed companies could be lackluster with only single-digit growth due to the weakness in the economy,” said Wang Zheng, the Shanghai-based chief investment officer at Jingxi Investment. “There isn’t much interest in trading stocks in the next couple of days as the market is preparing for the Chinese New Year.”
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng China Enterprises Index climbed 1.4 percent. The CSI 300 Index decreased 0.2 percent. The Hang Seng Index added 0.7 percent.
Gauges of energy and financial shares in the CSI 300 slid both 0.9 percent for the biggest losses among 10 industry groups. Cnooc Ltd. retreated 0.9 percent in Hong Kong.
