H-Shares Expand; Mainland Banks, Oil Stocks Leap

• May 10, 2010
• Sectors:   China Report
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The Hang Seng Index increased 2.54% to close at 20,426.64 on Monday, May 10, in main board trading turnover of HK$70.95 billion. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index grew 2.97%.

Banking and insurance big cap stocks provided much upward strength Monday. Of the banks, HSBC (NYSE:HBC, LON:HSBA, 0005.HK) soared 5.64%, while Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) (1398.HK, 601398.SH) rose 2.16% and Bank of China (3988.HK, 601988.SH) increased 2.05%. Insurers Ping An Insurance (Group) (2318.HK, 601318.SH) and China Life Insurance (NYSE:LFC, 2628.HK, 601628.SH) gained 3.11% and 2.51% respectively.

Oil shares also helped push the index up, with China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) (NYSE:CEO, 0883.HK) rising 3.3%, China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) (NYSE:SNP, 0386.HK, 600028.SH) adding 3.07%, and PetroChina (NYSE:PTR, 0857.HK, 601857.SH) closing 2.88% higher.

Despite the broadly positive market sentiment, airline shares remained depressed for the fourth consecutive trading day, with China Eastern Airlines (0670.HK, NYSE:CEA, 600115.SH) losing 1.58%, China Southern Air (1055.HK, 600029.SH) slipping 1.35% and Air China (0753.HK, 601111.SH) flat.

Shares of French skincare products company L'Occitane (0973.HK) added a further 8.47% in value on Monday, following the company's Friday debut.

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