Chinese stocks climbed 2.7 percent to a seven-month closing high on Friday in active trade, led by resource shares as investors grew optimistic that the latest economic data would show the most difficult period had passed. The Shanghai Composite Index ended at 2,444.226 points, near its intraday high and approaching the 250-day moving average, now at 2,468, that has offered strong resistance and capped the markets recent rally.
Gaining Shanghai A shares overwhelmed losers by 899 to 18, while turnover in Shanghai A shares rose to 155.1 billion yuan ($22.7 billion) from Thursdays 106.3 billion yuan. Chinas exports fell 17.1 percent in March from a year earlier, an improvement from the prior months 25.7 percent drop, while imports fell 25.1 percent, the official Xinhua news agency said on Friday.
"The March data suggests things have stopped falling but there was no rebound, so the officials might introduce more policies to support a recovery," said Stockfly Securities analyst Chen Shaodan. Analysts said the upbeat export data and stabilising overseas stock markets buoyed overall sentiment, which could combine with ample liquidity in the market to encourage an assault on the 250-day moving average next week.
INSURERS RISE The Shanghai index ended with a 1 percent gain for the week, rebounding from a 3.8 percent slide on Wednesday, while Wall Street looked set to post a fifth weekly gain. Jiangxi Copper climbed its 10 percent daily limit to 25.72 yuan and has soared 66 percent since the start of March, buoyed by strong copper prices. Coal industry leader China Shenhua Energy gained 4.59 percent to 22.82 yuan.
Ping An Insurance climbed 3.04 percent to 42.38 yuan, extending a 5.95 percent gain the previous day. The insurer said on Thursday that it would welcome a better restructuring plan for Fortis and that the chances were very low of any further losses on the European financial services group this year, after it took a combined 22.79 billion yuan impairment loss on its investment in the group last year.
Insurers were also lifted by a news report that Chinas insurance regulator gave Bank of Communications and Bank of Beijing approval to buy into domestic insurers, marking an acceleration in the development of financial conglomerates in China. China Life Insurance climbed 3.43 percent to 24.40 yuan while China Pacific Insurance gained 3.89 percent to 18.17 yuan.
Bank of Communications rose 4.41 percent to 6.87 yuan and Bank of Beijing was up 2.32 percent at 12.36 yuan. Airline shares outperformed, with Air China jumping 7.73 percent to 6.69 yuan, after news that China National Aviation Fuel Holding cut quarterly jet fuel prices to domestic airlines by about 12 percent from April.
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