SHANGHAI: China shares rose on Thursday for a third consecutive session, as slowing factory-gate inflation added to investor hopes that policymakers may be able to act to boost slowing economic growth.

China’s factory-gate inflation cooled slightly in November, driven by a government crackdown on runaway commodity prices and an easing power crunch, potentially giving policymakers some latitude to unleash more stimulus.

At the close, the Shanghai Composite index was up 0.98% at 3,673.04, taking gains for the week to more than 1.8%. ** The blue-chip CSI300 index jumped 1.66%, marking a more than 3.6% rise for the week so far. ** The financial sector subindex rose 1.55%, the consumer staples sector added 1.78% and the healthcare subindex gained 2.58%. The real estate index jumped 2.42% as hopes of a managed debt restructuring at developer China Evergrande Group calmed fears of a messy corporate collapse after it missed a debt payment deadline this week.