CHINA’S booming equity market is getting closer to featuring its first 1,000 yuan (US$148.86) stock.

Four analysts predict Shanghai-listed liquor giant Kweichow Moutai Co. will get there within the next 12 months. The shares have rallied 45 percent this year, helped by a surge in sales that defied concern of a consumer slowdown. The stock closed at 865 yuan Thursday.

Companies around the world often split their shares when prices get too high, a way to boost holdings by individuals and ensure liquidity remains sufficient. But in China, a high-turnover market that’s dominated by day traders, that’s rarely been a problem for its largest and most popular stocks. About 4.5 million Moutai shares changed hands daily this year on average, even though investors must buy them in multiples of 100.

“It’s essentially an issue of market liquidity and investor structure,” said Kinger Lau, Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s chief equity strategist in Hong Kong. “For a big-cap stock and a foreigner favorite, I’d say the impact would be quite small. China’s A-share market has always been one of ample liquidity.”

Moutai has long been a favorite of foreign investors. They’ve poured about 12 billion yuan into the stock this year through March via the trading links with Hong Kong. Foreign trading accounted for an average of 36 percent of its daily turnover in the past month.

Shenzhen-listed Changchun High & New Technology Industry (Group) Inc. is China’s second-highest priced stock, closing at 308.49 yuan Thursday.

Analysts at Goldman Sachs, Macquarie Group Ltd., Citic Securities Co. and China Securities Finance Corp. all have a target price of at least 1,000 yuan for Moutai. (SD-Agencies)