Shanghai shares/close -- 2

Ping'an Securities research institute assistant director Chen Shouhong said shares received a slight boost yesterday as funds withdrawn ahead of the market's week-long holiday were returned to the market.	    Nonetheless, many investors remained sidelined, awaiting details of expected plans for the flotation of state shares.	    "There have been rumours about various methods of floating the shares, and many investors have been unwilling to sell stocks at this stage amid speculation that state shares will be placed to existing shareholders at low prices."	    There are also expectations that the government will allow the launch of open-ended funds some time next month, he said.	    Xiangcai Securities analyst He Bin said the relatively thin trade suggested that many investors kept to the sidelines amid the belief that share prices may undergo a correction in the near term, although sentiment appeared firm.	    He said although there was speculation about a range of flotation methods for state shares, it is believed that if social security funds take over the shares and place them to securities investment funds, this method would ensure that there was little negative impact on the market.	    Although B-share growth yesterday was triggered by a cut in interest rates on domestic U.S. dollar deposits, effective on May 1, strong profit-taking emerged today.	    "Domestic investors believed the (expected) large inflow of funds won't happen immediately after the cut, but will only be seen after June 1 (the date on which domestic individuals will become entitled to use U.S. dollar funds deposited after Feb 19 to invest in B-shares)," he said.	    Shanghai Electrical Apparatus gained 1.49 yuan to 16.37 on 11.9 mln shares, while Shanghai Erfangji gained 0.47 yuan to 12.29 on 9.4 mln shares.	    Founder Yanzhong rose 0.91 yuan to 37.69 yuan on 11 mln shares, while Xingye Housing rose 0.4 yuan to 19.08 on 7.6 mln shares.	    Shanghai Petrochemical declined 0.02 yuan to 5.05 on 1.6 mln shares.	    Baoshan Iron & Steel shed 0.05 yuan to 5.42 on 8.3 mln shares.	    Among B-shares, Shanghai Erfangji gained 0.023 usd to 0.824 on 23.1 mln shares, while Shanghai Jinjiang Tower rose 0.016 usd to 0.881 on 9.8 mln shares.	    Zhejiang Southeast Electric Power shed 0.009 usd to 0.888 on 8.4 mln shares, while Heilongjiang Electric Power dropped 0.01 usd to 0.87 on 7.3 mln shares. 

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