Stock Alert - Airlines, shippers, refiners surge in HK on lower oil prices
Hong Kong (XFN-ASIA) - Airlines, shippers and refiners shares rose sharply in early trading after oil prices tumbled overnight. At 10.35 am, China Eastern Airlines was up 0.14 hkd or 6.33 pct at 2.35 and Air China gained 0.28 hkd or 7.88 pct at 3.97. China Southern Airlines rose 0.19 hkd or 6.57 pct at 3.08 as news of fuel charge hike gave it a boost.
China Southern will raise its fuel surcharge up to 37.5 pct for international flights from tomorrow, with the surcharge for long-haul round trips raised to 2,200 yuan from 1,600 and that of short-haul trips to 1,100 yuan from 840, according to reports. Among shippers, China Shipping Development climbed 1.65 hkd or 7.37 pct at 24.05, China Cosco was 0.84 hkd or 4.49 pct higher at 19.54, and Orient Overseas International gained 1.95 hkd or 5.26 pct at 39.95.
Refiner China Petroleum & Chemical (Sinopec) advanced 0.38 hkd or 5.31 pct at 7.53, and PetroChina -- which also has a refining business -- was up 0.49 hkd or 5.09 pct at 10.12. Upstream oil producer CNOOC was also 0.24 hkd or 1.85 pct higher at 13.22, in line with a stronger broad market. New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for August delivery, dropped 5.33 usd to close at 136.04 a barrel as tumbling global stocks and resurgent concerns about an economic slowdown stoked fears about future energy demand.
Oil prices also fell after the Group of Eight (G8) nations warned on soaring crude costs and appealed for more production.