MW: China lending rises in March, helping bank shares
By Michael Kitchen
LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Chinese banks and other financial institutations lent out 1.06 trillion yuan ($171 billion) in March, jumping from 620 billion in new yuan-denominated loans the previous month, the People's Bank of China said Thursday. The pace of lending in China -- where large state-owned banks have traditionally dominated the landscape -- exceeded a 940-billion-yuan median forecast from a Dow Jones Newswires survey. Kim Eng Securities strategist Andrew Sullivan linked the data to gains for stocks in major mainland Chinese lenders, citing "good interest in the financials." In early morning Hong Kong trade, Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. HK:1398 +0.57% IDCBF +0.72% traded 1.2% higher, with Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. HK:1288 +0.86% ACGBF -0.93% rising 1.4% and Bank of Communications Co. HK:3328 +1.21% BKFCF -3.45% gaining 2.4%. Gains were less pronounced in Shanghai, however, where ICBC CN:601398 +0.25% added 0.3%, Ag Bank CN:601288 -0.37% rose 0.7%, and BoComm CN:601328 -0.21% advanced 0.6%.
