China’s blue-chip index at 13-year high

BEIJING: China’s blue-chip index closed on Tuesday at the highest level in 13 years, with rare earth stocks shining, as investors were reassured by a quicker economic recovery following a containment of a resurgence of locally transmitted COVID-19 infections.

The blue-chip CSI300 index ended up 2.19% at 5686.25, the highest closing level since January 15, 2008, with its consumer staples sector adding 2.91% and the healthcare sub-index climbing 2.11%.

The Shanghai Composite index was up 2.01% at 3,603.49, the biggest daily gain in nearly a month.

Leading the gains, the rare earth sector sub-index surged 5% while the natural resource sub-index gained 4.5%. The smaller Shenzhen index ended up 2.44% and the start-up board ChiNext Composite index was higher by 1.714%.