China blue chips rally as corporate earnings beat expectations

China's blue-chip stocks rose for a fifth straight day on Friday to a 28-month high, as corporate earnings beat expectations and the conclusion of the key Communist Party Congress this week put investor focus on President Xi Jinping's economic agenda. The three-week rising streak in blue chips has also been fuelled by signs of economic resilience in the world's second-biggest economy, and by robust profits from sector leaders.
The blue-chip CSI300 index rose 0.7 percent, to 4,021.97 points, while the Shanghai Composite Index added 0.3 percent to 3,416.81 points. For the week, CSI300 gained 2.4 percent, while SSEC was up 1.1 percent. A slew of major stocks including China Life Insurance , Aluminium Corp of China and Kweichow Moutai have posted quarterly results that trumped market expectations.
Data on Friday showed profits for China's industrial powerhouses surged the most in nearly six years in September. This week's congress in Beijing has put the focus on President Xi's consolidation of political power and what that means for his economic vision to build a "modern socialist" country.
"It's very rare for the stock market to rise before, and throughout major political conferences in China," Wu Kan, head of equities trading at Shanshan Finance, said. Looking ahead, however, he said the bullish headline index performance has masked the shift in China's equity landscape, with money being increasingly piled into a small number of industry leaders that benefit from government policies or promise stable returns.
Investors are unwinding bets in smaller, weaker players with risk appetite increasingly curbed by a tighter monetary environment. The consumer sector, for example, has far outrun the broader market with a 7.4 percent jump this week, led by Moutai surging to a record high. The world's most valuable liquor maker is up a staggering 94.4 percent this year. Infrastructure firms also made handsome gains this week, as investors expect Beijing to push forward Xi's signature "Belt and Road" initiative.