China stocks rose slightly on Thursday, after data showing the country's industrial demand remained resilient even as trade tensions ratchet up with the United States. The CSI300 index rose 0.1 percent, to 3,876.49 at the end of the morning session, while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.2 percent to 3,165.11.
China's producer inflation picked up for the first time in seven months in April, bolstered by surging commodities. But consumer inflation eased from the previous month as food prices rose at a slower pace.
China's smaller Shenzhen index was up 0.1 percent and the start-up board ChiNext Composite index was weaker by 0.16 percent. The largest percentage gainers in the main Shanghai Composite index were Zhejiang Jiuzhou Pharmaceutical Co Ltd up 10.04 percent, followed by Qingdao Copton Technology Co Ltd gaining 10.02 percent and Shanghai Putailai New Energy Technology Co Ltd up by 10.01 percent.
The top percentage losers in the Shanghai index were Aurora Optoelectronics Co Ltd down 9.99 percent, followed by Flying Technology Co Ltd losing 6.99 percent and Zhejiang XinAn Chemical Industrial Group Co Ltd down by 6.29 percent.
The top gainers among H-shares were China Shenhua Energy Co Ltd up 4.25 percent, followed by CNOOC Ltd gaining 3.55 percent and China Petroleum & Chemical Corp up by 2.92 percent.
The three biggest H-shares percentage decliners were ZhongAn Online P & C Insurance Co Ltd which has fallen 1.33 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical Group Ltd which has lost 1.2 percent and New China Life Insurance Co Ltd down by 1.0 percent.
About 7.53 billion shares have traded so far on the Shanghai exchange, roughly 48.7 percent of the market's 30-day moving average of 15.47 billion shares a day. The volume traded was 12.26 billion as of the last full trading day.