HONG KONG, Feb 20 (Reuters) – Shanghai shares slipped from a
two-month high on Thursday, as a weak private survey of February
manufacturing activity outweighed robust gains for Sinopec Corp
stemming from the first signs of reform at a state-owned
enterprise.
The Shanghai Composite Index, which finished on
Wednesday at its highest since Dec. 16, ended down 0.2 percent
at 2,138.8 points. The CSI300 of the leading Shanghai
and Shenzhen A-share listings shed 0.9 percent.
The Nasdaq-style ChiNext Composite Index of
mostly high-tech startups listed in Shenzhen slid 1.8 percent.
The China flash Markit/HSBC Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI)
declined to 48.3 in February, a seven-month low, from January’s
final reading of 49.5. The employment sub-index fell to its
weakest in four years.
China Petroleum and Chemical Corp, known as
Sinopec, soared by the maximum 10 percent limit in Shanghai.
Investors cheered plans to sell up to 30 percent of its retail
oil business to private investors in a multi-billion dollar
restructuring aimed at boosting the value of its sprawling
downstream arm.
(Reporting by Clement Tan; Editing by Richard Borsuk)
