A public offering review committee yesterday gave the go-ahead to a Bank of China (BOC) plan to issue around US$2.5 billion worth of A shares on the domestic market.

 

The investment opportunity, which could be launched soon, is expected to be the largest share offering on a domestic bourse.

 

Sources close to the deal revealed BOC would publish the prospectus for its domestic initial public offering (IPO) on Monday, according a Reuters report yesterday.

 

The bank aims to issue 60 percent of shares to institutional investors on June 19, and the remaining 40 percent to retail investors on June 23, the report said.

 

China's stock market fell back this week after last month's increase, leading to concerns that the upcoming IPOs, such as the BOC IPO, would draw funds from the market.

 

The fall this week was 7 percent, the biggest weekly drop in more than three years.

 

The benchmark Shanghai composite index on Friday closed at 1,551.384 points, down 2.52 percent from Thursday.

 

Turnover in Shanghai A shares was a moderate 25.8 billion yuan (US$3.22 billion).

 

Dong Chen, an analyst with CITIC China Securities, said it was a natural dip, as investors have gained much over the past month.

 

"It is a good time for investors to sell shares to make a profit." Dong said.

 

"The upcoming IPOs will draw some funds away from the current market," he added.

 

Dong pointed out that the imminent arrival of non-tradable shares on the market was another factor contributing to the withdrawal of liquidity.

 

"When shares rose to more than 1,400 points and started to soar in May, it was as much to do with the abundant flow of money in the market as it was to do with listed companies' good performance," Dong said.

 

He believed there would not be another bear market, but the index would not likely break the 1,700-point barrier this year, a symbolic figure.

 

"Even though the index dropped 7 percent this week, it has still gained 34 percent since the start of this year."

 

Analysts believe the central bank's tighter control of the money market, which cut down the amount of money flowing into the stock market, also contributed to the fall in share price.

 

"Money market funds were greatly affected over the past month when investors started to enter the stock market," said Hu Hao, an analyst with China Merchants Securities, warning investors to pay close attention to the money market.

 

(China Daily June 10, 2006)