The HSBC China PMI Index came in even lower in March than it did in February,falling to 48.1 from 48.5.Below 50 means the manufacturing sector is contracting.Still,this poor number raised expectations that China would enact stimulus measures,sending the MSCI Asia Pacific index up 0.85% in Monday trading.*
Sinopec's Q4 net profit fell 35% year on year as improved refining profits lost out to lower upstream earnings.The 13.8 billion yuan profit was way lower than the 20.5 billion consensus forecast.
Profits were squeezed by a drop in oil exploration and production profit partly caused by lower world oil prices.Lower prices also hurt its chemical division,as did an increase in domestic production capacity.
To improve its performance,the oil and gas major will sell up to 30% of its marketing and distribution division,which is a vast network of some 3,000 petrol stations,plus convenience stores,pipelines and storage facilities.The sale could raise up to 20 billion.It will also cut capex by 4.2%.*
South Korea's KOSPI index surged 10.61%,bolstered by shipbuilding stocks rising on the day.Daewoo Shipbuilding soared 4.61%,while Hyundai Heavy Industries added 1.98%.*
Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Co Ltd(SHI),Daewoo Shipbuilding&Marine(DWOTF:OTC US),Hyundai Heavy Industries Co Ltd(HYHZF:OTC US)
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