Shanghai's key stock index edged up in the morning session today thanks to a rebound among heavyweights such as Sinopec and PetroChina.
The Shanghai Composite Index inched up 0.28 percent, or 7.47 points, to 2,692.25 at 11:30am.
Losers in the Shanghai market outnumbered gainers 493 to 283 while 41 did not change.
The Shenzhen Composite Index, which tracks the smaller domestic stock exchange, was down 0.93 percent, or 7.55 points, to 800.46.
China Petroleum & Chemical Corp, or known as Sinopec, gained 2.62 percent to 10.58 yuan (US$1.55) while PetroChina, the biggest heavyweight in the market, rose 0.95 percent to 14.86 yuan. Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Co jumped 2.27 percent to 6.30 yuan.
Sinopec, Asia's biggest oil refiner, said profit in the first half of this year may have fallen by more than 50 percent amid rising crude oil costs.
Sinopec Shanghai, the unit of China's largest oil refiner, said it may post a loss in the first six months of this year on rising crude oil costs.
But oil prices tumbled below US$130 a barrel for the first time in more than a month yesterday, as crude's dramatic slide entered a third day accompanied by a sharp sell-off in natural gas.
Light, sweet crude for August delivery dropped US$5.31 to settle at US$129.29 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices have fallen nearly US$16 in the past three days.
Ping An Insurance (Group) Co was among insurers to gain this morning.
Ping An added 0.96 percent to 39.78 yuan while China Life, the country's largest insurer, climbed 2.42 percent to 24.50 yuan.
Ping An, China's No. 2 insurer, booked 53.9 billion yuan in life insurance premiums in the first six months of this year, the company said, without providing a comparative figure for 2007.
In the banking sector, Huaxia Bank Co, the Chinese lender part owned by Deutsche Bank AG, advanced 1.10 percent to 10.11 yuan. The bank said first-half profit may have risen more than 90 percent.
Shenzhen Development Bank Co, the lender controlled by US buyout firm TPG Inc, plans to sell 1.5 billion yuan of subordinated bonds to bolster its capital. Its stock dipped 0.8 percent to 18.65 yuan.
Elsewhere, Shanghai Jinjiang International Industrial Investment Co, the freight transportation and taxi operator, said first-half profit rose 7.4 percent to 175.3 million yuan from a year earlier as sales gained 4.3 percent. Its shares added 3.82 percent to 8.70 yuan.
Jiangxi Changhe Automobile Co surged 5.02 percent to 5.65 yuan. The auto maker said it plans to sell as much as 466.2 million yuan of shares to China Aviation Industry Corp in return for purchasing stakes in its two units.
Anhui Conch Cement Co sank 5.22 percent to 36.30 yuan. JPMorgan Chase & Co cut its share-price estimate for the cement-maker by 44 percent to 45 yuan.
