China stocks extended a rally on Tuesday to fresh two-year peaks, underpinned by continued gains in banking and real estate firms. At the close, the Shanghai Composite index was up 45.62 points or 1.3 percent at 3,546.98. The blue-chip CSI300 index was up 1.08 percent, with its financial sector sub-index higher by 2.01 percent, the consumer staples sector up 0.34 percent, the real estate index up 3.21 percent and healthcare sub-index up 0.04 percent.
The smaller Shenzhen index ended up 0.36 percent and the start-up board ChiNext Composite index was unchanged. Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was firmer by 0.88 percent while Japan's Nikkei index closed up 1.29 percent. At 07:01 GMT, the yuan was quoted at 6.3997 per US dollar, 0.08 percent firmer than the previous close of 6.405.
The largest percentage gainers in the main Shanghai Composite index were Henan Yuguang Gold & Lead Co Ltd up 10.05 percent, followed by Sichuan Langsha Holding Ltd gaining 9.99 percent and China Construction Bank Corp up by 8.72 percent. The largest percentage losses in the Shanghai index were Zhejiang Hisun Pharmaceutical Co Ltd down 10 percent, followed by Shanghai Zhongyida Co Ltd losing 8.01 percent and Kama Co Ltd down by 7.72 percent.
So far this year, the Shanghai stock index is up 5.87 percent, the CSI300 is up 8.8 percent this year, while China's H-share index listed in Hong Kong is up 12.8 percent. Shanghai stocks have risen 5.87 percent this month. About 23.87 billion shares were traded on the Shanghai exchange, roughly 136.7 percent of the market's 30-day moving average of 17.46 billion shares a day. The volume in the previous trading session was 21.75 billion.
As of 07:02 GMT, China's A-shares were trading at a premium of 29.10 percent over the Hong Kong-listed H-shares. The Shanghai stock index is above its 50-day moving average and above its 200-day moving average. The price-to-earnings ratio of the Shanghai index was 15.9 as of the last full trading day while the dividend yield was 1.8 percent. So far this week, the market capitalisation of the Shanghai stock index has risen by 0.50 percent to 30.79 trillion yuan.