SHANGHAI stocks see-sawed in the morning session as investors tried to digest June's data that showed China's inflation rate reached a four-month high.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index added 5 points, or 0.26 percent, to 1,963.27 as the gains of materials stocks outweighed the losses of homebuilders and distilleries. Turnover was 28.3 billion yuan (US$4.6 billion) by midday.
China's Consumer Price Index (CPI) in June rose 2.7 percent year on year, accelerating from 2.1 percent in May and recording the fastest pace since February, the National Bureau of Statistics said today.
Analysts said the rebound in inflation exceeded their expectation due to a hike in food prices in June but consumer prices will stay moderate in the second half of the year as the country's economy remains weak.
China's Producer Price Index (PPI), a major gauge of inflation at the wholesale level, fell 2.7 percent last month from a year earlier, extending a 16-month decline.
Non-ferrous metals producers advanced. Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel Rare-earth (Group) Hi-tech Co, China's biggest producer of rare earth materials, rose 2.2 percent to 21.48 yuan. Rising Nonferrous Metals Share Co surged 5 percent to 44.47 yuan.
Gansu Qilianshan Cement Group Co gained 5 percent to 8.20 yuan. Yangquan Coal Industry (Group) Co rose 2.5 percent to 8.36 yuan.
Most property developers declined. Poly Real Estate, China's second-largest developer, fell 2.3 percent to 10.17 yuan. Gemdale Corp shed 2.7 percent to 6.91 yuan.
Kweichow Moutai Co, a leading producer of high-end liquor in China, dropped 1.3 percent to 192.70 yuan. Sichuan Tuopai Shede Wine Co skid 1.7 percent to 17.71 yuan.