China stocks surge

China stocks ended higher on Thursday on recovering global investor sentiment, but gains were modest ahead of March-quarter GDP data that is expected to show an economic contraction for the first time in nearly 30 years.

The Shanghai Composite index closed up 0.3% at 2,819.94, while the blue-chip CSI300 index gained 0.1%, having fitted in and out of negative territory. CSI300's financial sector sub-index was higher by 0.1%, the consumer staples sector was down 0.3% and the healthcare sub-index edged up 0.4%.

The smaller Shenzhen index added 0.5% and the start-up board ChiNext Composite index gained by 1.6%. So far this year, the Shanghai stock index is down 7.5% and the CSI300 has fallen 7.2%. Shanghai stocks have risen 2.5% this month.

About 20.30 billion shares were traded on the Shanghai exchange. The volume in the previous trading session was 20.56 billion. China is expected to publish its first-quarter GDP, activity data 0200 GMT on Friday.

A Reuters poll shows the coronavirus crisis likely knocked China's economy into its first decline since at least 1992 in the first quarter, raising the heat on authorities to do more to restore growth as mounting job losses threaten social stability.

"Although the market is already expecting the shock to first-quarter economic activity, the difficult reality of company performance will nevertheless pressure share prices," analysts at Everbright Securities wrote in a note.

But Alex Wong, director at Ample Finance in Hong Kong, said investors care less about GDP data in China than whether the epidemic comes under control globally, which explains why A-shares followed US futures higher in afternoon trade.