SHANGHAI: Chinese stocks were a mixed bag on Wednesday morning as banking shares were depressed by lacklustre first-quarter earnings while resource companies surged on new tax reforms.
The CSI300 index rose 0.4 percent, to 4,761.26 points at the end of the morning session, while the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.4 percent, to 4,460.43 points.
In Hong Kong, stocks fell. The Hang Seng index dropped 0.5 percent, to 28,310.32 points, while the Hong Kong China Enterprises Index lost 1.1 percent, to 14,552.56. The indexes were weighed down by financial shares.
China’s banking sub-index fell 0.9 percent, following weak bank results showing more evidence of a cooling economy and foreshowing earnings announcements by other major lenders later on Wednesday.
Bank of Communications Co , the fifth-biggest lender, reported a sharp fall in first-quarter net interest margin late on Tuesday, while Agricultural Bank of China Ltd (AgBank) , the third-largest, posted its slowest quarterly profit growth in six years.
Liu Yang, fund manager at Bosera Asset Management Co, said he expects non-banking financial institutions such as brokerages and insurers to outperform the broader market and fuel further rises in the stock indexes.
According to the survey published on Tuesday, Chinese investors believe the country’s equities and fixed income offer the world’s best short- and long-term investment opportunities, while their appetite for U.S. capital markets slumped.
More than 4 million new stock accounts were opened last week, up 26 percent from the previous month, although the record pace of growth was also partly the result of recent rule changes that let investors open multiple accounts.
One notable mover in Hong Kong was investment holding firm Quam Ltd, which surged 69 percent after China Minsheng Banking Corp said its unit had agreed to acquire a stake in the company.
