Investors Breathe a Sigh of Relief

Shares of China?s oil company CNOOC Ltd. jumped 5.5 percent on investor relief that the company had been through with its takeover bid for U.S. oil company Unocal Corp.

Investors, who had worried that CNOOC would enter into a costly bidding war with its bid rival Chevron, were glad that uncertainty over the deal was finally removed.

CNOOC's Hong Kong shares jumped to a record high of HK$5.80 in early Wednesday trade before easing to HK$5.55 to end the morning session, a gain of 0.91 percent.
CNOOC's American Depositary Receipts advanced 6 percent in U.S. trading on Tuesday.

CNOOC stock had jumped by 32 percent in 2005 through Tuesday thanks to high global oil prices, but lagged its Asian peers.