China stocks reversed losses from earlier in the session to end higher on Thursday, as investors hunted for bargains after a recent correction in shares of real estate and consumer firms. At the close, the Shanghai Composite index was up 1.2 percent at 3,160.53, while the blue-chip CSI300 index was up 1.3 percent at 3,894.05. The smaller Shenzhen index ended up 1 percent and the start-up board ChiNext Composite index was higher by 0.4 percent.
The rebound was led by a 5.5 percent surge in real estate stocks, with top developer China Vanke closing up 9 percent. Consumer firms also rallied strongly, led by liquor maker Lao Jiao rising 7.4 percent. Market participants were also keeping an eye on developments regarding the ongoing Sino-US trade spat.
US President Donald Trump's tariffs on Chinese goods may not be imposed until early June, administration officials said on Wednesday, with public consultations and potential tariff revisions buying time for negotiations to forestall them. China warned the United States on Thursday not to open a Pandora's Box and spark a flurry of protectionist practices across the globe, even as Beijing pointed to US goods that it could target in a deepening Sino-US trade dispute.
China could target a broad range of US businesses from agriculture to aircraft, autos, semiconductors and even services if the trade conflict escalates, the official China Daily newspaper said in an editorial on Thursday. Financial shares held steady, after Chinese President Xi Jinping and other top officials approved new regulations for the country's $15 trillion asset management sector.
The largest percentage gainers on the main Shanghai Composite index were Zhejiang Haiyue Co Ltd up 10.05 percent, followed by Tederic Machinery Co Ltd gaining 9.99 percent and Shandong Hualu Hengsheng Chemical Co Ltd up by 9.98 percent. The largest percentage losers on the Shanghai index were Sanan Optoelectronics Co Ltd down 5.92 percent, followed by Sinomach Automobile Co Ltd losing 5.43 percent and China International Travel Service Corp Ltd down by 5.41 percent.