China stocks rose slightly on Tuesday, as transportation and raw material shares were firm on the back of Beijing's plan to revive its struggling north-east rustbelt, offsetting falls in real estate stocks. The bluechip CSI300 index rose 0.2 percent, to 3,341.83. The Shanghai Composite Index also gained 0.2 percent, to 3,089.71 points. China has rolled out a plan to revive its north-east rustbelt over the next three years, including 127 major investment projects.
The government also unveiled detailed plans to lower business costs in the next several years to aid a slowing economy. Transportation and raw material shares rose. The healthcare sector were also firm. But the property sector fell 0.6 percent. Gains for healthcare stocks came in the wake of reports in the Chinese media on Tuesday that President Xi Jinping spoke about healthcare at a national conference on the weekend.
Xiao Shijun, an analyst at Guodu Securities in Beijing, said mainland indexes are unlikely to have sharp moves in the near term. "The overall tone of the market will remain stable," Xiao said, predicting it will remain calm ahead of the G-20 summit in Hangzhou in early September. China's benchmark 10-year government bond yields rebound marginally from multiple-year lows, but still hover at a level that the lowest since January 2009.
Lower bond yields, while reflecting easing expectations, also make those high-dividend bluechips a bit more attractive, analysts said. Shenzhen's start-up board ChiNext, which fell 1.7 percent on Monday, was up 0.5 percent at Tuesday's lunch break. Chinese investment managers, taking advantage of a significant step to open up investment flows in and out of China, are aggressively marketing well-priced Hong Kong shares to mainland investors through stock connect schemes.