China’s stock-index futures fell after the benchmark index
retreated for a third day.
Futures on the CSI 300 Index expiring in December lost 0.2 percent to
2,390.20 as of 9:18 a.m. local time. China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. ,
known as Sinopec, may decline after seven people from the refiner were detained
after a pipeline explosion. Guangxi-based stocks including Guangxi Wuzhou
Zhongheng Group Co. and Guangxi Fenglin
Wood Industry Group Co. may move after the China Securities Journal said the
province’s Dongxing city may be allowed to set up a free-trade zone.
The Shanghai Composite Index dropped 0.5 percent to 2,186.12 yesterday.
The CSI 300 Index slid 0.4 percent to 2,388.63. The Hang Seng China Enterprises
Index retreated 0.5 percent. The
Bloomberg China-US Equity Index fell 1.4 percent.
The Shanghai Composite is down 3.7 percent this year and
trades at 8.6 times projected profit for the next 12 months, compared with the
seven-year average of 15.3, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Sinopec, Asia’s biggest oil refiner, may be active. Seven
people from the company and two local officials were detained by police after
the Nov. 22 explosion in Qingdao, the city’s Huangdao district government said
in a posting on its official microblog yesterday. The explosion at the pipeline
operated by Sinopec killed 55 people.
Sinopec won’t see any major negative earnings per-share
impact from the incident, according to Daiwa Securities Group Inc. While the utilisation
rate of Sinopec’s refinery may decline in the near to medium term, the company
should have enough refined products stored in its various tank farms to ensure
that sales will not be disrupted, Daiwa Securities analysts Adrian Loh and
Benjamin Lim wrote in a note dated yesterday. They have a hold rating on the
company’s Hong Kong-traded shares.
(Source: Bloomberg)