Chinese shares closed up 2.07 percent on Monday led by a strong rebound in property developers and financial companies, dealers said. The Shanghai Composite Index, which covers both A and B shares, was up 61.64 points to 3,038.27 on turnover of 140.6 billion yuan (20.6 billion dollars).
Investors' views about the upcoming launch of a growth enterprise market (GEM), which has officially been named ChiNext, have changed for the better, analysts said.
Some dealers had been concerned the Nasdaq-style board could divert funds from the main board. "We expect the debut of ChiNext to boost investor demand for mainboard stocks, as the latter are much cheaper compared with the GEM stocks, which have high valuations," Capital Securities Amy Lin told Dow Jones Newswires.
The first batch of 28 companies to list on the ChiNext will make their trading debut on October 30, state media reported Monday. Property companies were among the biggest gainers Monday on strong sales. China Vanke ended 6.8 percent higher at 12.34 yuan and Poly Real Estate Group closed up 4.9 percent at 28.02 yuan.
Financial companies also outperformed. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China was up 1.0 percent to 5.00 yuan, while Ping An Insurance added 3.2 percent to 57.83 yuan.
Auto makers also posted solid gains on strong sales expectations. SAIC Motor ended 3.6 percent higher at 21.80 yuan and Chongqing Changan Automobile rose 4.4 percent to 11.74 yuan. The Shanghai A-share index rose 64.74 points, or 2.07 percent, to 3,188.65 on turnover of 140.3 billion yuan, while the Shenzhen A-share index gained 31.50 points, or 2.92 percent, to 1,111.57 on turnover of 85.7 billion yuan. The yuan closed the day at 6.8267 against the US dollar, almost unchanged from Friday's finish of 6.8268. The Shanghai B-share index was up 3.40 points, or 1.67 percent, to 207.13, while the Shenzhen B-share index added 8.42 points, or 1.60 percent, at 533.59.