Chinese oil firm PetroChina bucked a gloomy Asian market and shrugged off Warren Buffett's departure from its shareholder roster as investors boosted its shares, taking heart from its Shanghai A-share listing on Monday.
"This is pre-pulling. There's an expectation of what the A share is going to do," said Larry Grace, energy analyst at Kim Eng Securities in Hong Kong. "Mainland Chinese money goes to large cap stocks. And the king of the oils is PetroChina."
PetroChina's Hong Kong listed shares were trading up 0.2 percent at HK$18.96 by 0709 GMT on Monday, while the index of Chinese firms listed in Hong Kong <.HSCE> fell more than 4 percent.
PetroChina, the world's second largest energy company by market capitalization, expects its shares to start trading in Shanghai on November 5, it said in a prospectus issued on Sunday.
The offering of 4 billion shares has a market value of almost $10 billion, although PetroChina is likely to set a price range this week would put the offered shares at a discount, following the model of other listings by state-backed firms.
The Hong Kong-listed H shares have risen by more than 25 percent already this month in anticipation of the listing. The stock's relentless rise has called into question the decision to sell by Warren Buffett, whose Berkshire Hathaway (BRKa.N: Quote, Profile , Research) investment company was the second-biggest investor in PetroChina.
Buffett said last Thursday that he had sold his entire stake but admitted that he may have sold too soon.
"It's not like he was making any crazy decisions," said Grace. "It's the guys over here."