Shanghai: Stock index rises for 6th day on reaffirmation of govt support

[SHANGHAI] China stocks rose sharply on Thursday, with the Shanghai Composite index up for the sixth consecutive session, led by blue chips, after the government reaffirmed its support for the market.

The CSI300 index of the largest listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen rose 2.3 per cent, to 4,250.81, while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 2.4 per cent, to 4,123.92 points.

Sentiment among Chinese investors was lifted after China Securities Finance Corp, the state margin lender tasked with propping up wobbly share prices, told state media on Thursday that it would continue to support the market, while denying it had sold shares in certain companies.

Further fuelling investor optimism, Citi said China was not in a bubble, and excessive bearishness towards emerging markets and China would be proven wrong. "The key takeaway remains the normalization of the overall market," said Gerry Alfonso, director of Shenwen Hongyuan Securities.

Stocks in China rose across the board.

ChiNext, Shenzhen's start-up board, extended its bounce, while big caps including banks and major brokerages and real estate firms also rebounded, following days of weakness.

Shares of CRRC Corp Ltd rose 1.6 per cent in Shanghai. The Chinese train maker announced it won a 4.84 billion yuan (S$1.07 billion) order from Hong Kong transportation company MTR Corp, its biggest-ever domestic metropolitan train contract.

REUTERS