Water stocks shine amid lackluster day for China shares

Equities edged down again in China on Thursday for a fifth day, amid the lowest volume in 21 months.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.38 percent, or 9.22 points, to 2,437.08. The Shenzhen Component Index closed at 8,278.65 points, up 29.01 points, or 0.35 percent.
Aggregate turnover shrank to 43.06 billion yuan (6.28 billion U.S. dollars) from 54.7 billion yuan on the previous day. Losses outnumbered gains by 922 to 590 on both bourses.
One bright spot was the water resources and utilities companies, which gained after an official from the Ministry of Water Resources said on Wednesday that China was seeking a proper time to raise water prices.
Wuhan Sanzhen Industrial Holding Co. jumped 10 percent to 4.73 yuan, while Jiangxi Hongcheng Waterworks Co. surged 7.99 percent to 6.49 yuan.
Large-cap oil shares fell on higher global oil prices, with Sinopec, Asia's leading refiner down 0.66 percent to 10.6 yuan and PetroChina, the country's largest oil producer, down 1.09 percent to 13.6 yuan.
These companies import some of their crude oil, priced at global levels, while their refined product prices have government-set ceilings.
Olympic theme shares fell in profit-taking after weeks of bullishness ahead of the Games.
Beijing Capital Tourism Co. plummeted 9.97 percent to 13.64 yuan, while Beijing Xidan Department Store shed 9.94 percent to 8.15 yuan.
Steel stocks fell across the board, with Baosteel down 0.84 percent to 7.11 yuan, after the largest domestic steel maker announced on Thursday its 11.9 billion non-tradable shares would be unlocked on Aug. 19. Another major steel maker Angang Steel Co. edged down 1.65 percent to 10.13 yuan.
Yang Dajian, a Guotai Jun'an Securities analyst, predicted the market's downtrend would continue, at least for the short term, amid sluggish investor demand.
Source:Xinhua