2014.08.1300:24:08UTC+00Chinese stocks mixed before industrial output, retail sales report

Chinese stocks swung between gains and losses in the trading session for today as the market anticipates the Chinese data on industrial output and retail sales. The benchmark index was pulled and pushed by gains on technology and energy shares and losses from material producers.

The Shanghai Composite Index shed 0.1% to 2,220.21, 9:45 am, Shanghai time. The index fluctuated for more than ten times in early morning trade. Over at Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index added 0.1% to 24,700.66, 10:02 am, Hong Kong time. It briefly shed 0.1% in the early morning trade. The gauge saw a lower volume than usual with the index trading 37% less than the 30-day intraday average. The H-share index or the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index also gained 0.1% to 11,076.28. The CSI 300 fell by 0.1% to 2,354.34. Estimates show that factory output provisionally increased by 9.2% for the previous month while retail sales provisionally gained by 12.5%. The final report will be released later at 1:30 pm by the National Bureau of Statistics.

Sanan Optoelectronics Co. and Xinhu Zhongbao Co. surged with the former gaining the most in four months while the latter added 10% following a stake being sold in its brokerage unit.  Pangang Group Vanadium Titanium and Resources Co. announced that it will be re-evaluating the asset values of an Australian project driving company shares to drop 5.6% while Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel Rare-Earth Hi-Tech Co. shed 1.3%.

Money manager at Hengsheng Hongding Asset Management Co., Dai Ming, commented to Bloomberg that the gauge is more likely to trade in a narrow range in the upcoming terms. Ming adds that there won’t be as a surprise in the economic data as it will meet the expectations of the market to a large extent.