Shanghai market sluggish as investors await earnings reports

2014-07-08 17:14 Shanghai Daily Web Editor: Si Huan

Shanghai stocks fell this morning as investors are more concerned about corporate fundaments and mid-year earnings reports.

The key Shanghai Composite Index shed 0.15 percent, or 3.09 points, to 2,056.84. Turnover was 43.9 billion yuan (US$7.1 billion) by the noon break.

"The market is under pressure amid rising uncertainty as companies will soon release their earnings reports for the first half of the year," Guangzhou Wanlong Securities Consulting wrote in a note.

Concerns that new initial public offerings will divert funds from existing shares also weighed on the market, the consulting firm said.

There are expectations that the securities regulator will approve new listings as early as next week after a recent batch of nine IPOs performed well.

Guangdong Ellington Electronics Technology dropped 2.2 percent to 31.60 yuan after surging 84 percent since its debut last Tuesday.

Financial shares declined after the People's Bank of China drained 20 billion yuan from the money market today via 28-day repurchase contracts.

Industrial Bank dipped 0.7 percent to 9.96 yuan. Shanghai Pudong Development Bank shed 0.11 percent to 9.04 yuan.