China’s stock-index futures rose, signaling the benchmark index may extend the biggest gain in three months, as surging metal and oil prices bolstered the earnings outlook for the nation’s commodity producers.
Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd., the nation’s largest maker of the metal, may pace gains for metal producers after aluminum prices climbed to a two-year high in London yesterday. China Vanke Co. and Poly Real Estate Group Co., the biggest largest developers, may increase after Soufun Holdings Ltd. said property trading volumes rose in most cities surveyed last week.
Futures on the CSI 300 Index expiring in March, the most active contract, added 0.4 percent to 3,289.20 as of 9:17 a.m. local time. The Shanghai Composite Index, which tracks the bigger of China’s stock exchanges, surged 32 points, or 1.1 percent, to 2,932.25 yesterday, the biggest gain since Nov. 15. The CSI 300 Index fell 1.4 percent to 3,257.91.
The Shanghai gauge has advanced 4.4 percent this year on signs the economy is withstanding curbs that drain cash from the financial system to restrain inflation and limit the risk of asset bubbles. The government raised banks’ reserve requirements for a second time this year on Feb. 18, adding to an interest- rate increase on Feb. 8.
Aluminum for delivery in three months jumped $12, or 0.5 percent, to $2,580 a metric ton on the London Metal Exchange, the highest closing price since Sept. 12, 2008. Prices have climbed 4.5 percent this year.
Commodity Prices
Gold climbed above $1,400 an ounce to the highest price in almost seven weeks in London as unrest in the Middle East and concern inflation will quicken boosted demand. Silver reached a 30-year high and palladium advanced.
China Southern Airlines Co., the nation’s biggest carrier, may pace losses for airlines after oil jumped to the highest in more than two years. Libya, holder of Africa’s largest oil reserves, is the latest Arab nation to be rocked by protests ignited by last month’s ouster of Tunisia’s president and fanned by the Feb. 11 fall of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi’s son Saif al-Islam Qaddafi called on protesters to engage in dialogue or face a civil war that risks “hundreds of thousands of dead.”
China’s stock market, the world’s best performer since Jan. 25, is showing no signs the “Jasmine Revolution” that toppled governments in Egypt and Tunisia will spread to the fastest- growing major economy.
The Shanghai Composite has climbed 9.5 percent since the first day of Egyptian protests that led to the end of Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year rule. The rally is the best among benchmark indexes in the world’s 40 largest markets and compares with a 6.6 percent drop in the Bloomberg GCC 200 Index of Persian Gulf shares.
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