Shanghai shares top performer in first quarter

    AFTER three months dominated by a rising U.S. dollar, interest rate cuts by 26 central banks in the world and hefty equity gains, the big winner was the Chinese stock market.

    Investors who bought Shanghai-listed A shares at the start of the year have registered gains of 17 percent on a total return basis in dollar terms. The index hit seven-year highs this week while the yuan is about flat against the dollar .

    PetroChina to cut 2015 crude output

    PETROCHINA Co., which lists shares in Hong Kong and Shanghai, plans to cut 2015 crude output by 1.5 percent to 1.6 percent from last year, prompted by low oil prices, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said Tuesday.

    The source, who asked not to be named, also said production of natural gas was expected to rise 6 percent. Crude output by PetroChina, Asia’s largest oil producer, reached 945.5 million barrels in 2014, an increase of 1.4 percent from the previous year.

    Zhejiang DiAn teams up with Ali Health

    ALIBABA Group Holding Ltd.’s health care subsidiary will team up with Zhejiang DiAn Diagnostics Co. to help develop an online hospital platform.

    Shenzhen-listed Zhejiang DiAn has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Alibaba Health Information Technology Ltd. to explore an online health testing platform — part of Ali Health’s drive to take health care services online. Ali Health is looking to leverage technology to overhaul China’s fragmented health care market, which suffers from an under-supply of doctors, snarling queues and a wide gap between urban and rural health care.

    Iron ore futures extend losing streak

    CHINESE iron ore futures dropped a sixth straight session to hit a contract low yesterday, as spot prices slumped to near US$50 a ton, on persistent worries that output cuts at steel mills would eat into demand for the raw material.

    Sluggish steel consumption and soaring environmental costs have combined to force mills in the world’s largest steel producer and consumer to curb production and keep iron ore stocks at a minimum. Spot iron ore prices are at their lowest level since a key benchmark pricing index began in 2008, ending the January-March period with the deepest quarterly loss ever at more than 28 percent.