China stocks hit nine-month high

China’s stocks extended gains to a nine-month high, on optimism the government will boost spending on infrastructure and that efforts to curb property price gains will send money back into equities.

The Shanghai Composite Index advanced 0.1 percent at the close on Tuesday, firming in the final minutes of trading. Baoshan Iron & Steel Co rose 2.2 percent after reporting its best quarterly performance since 2012. China Communications Construction Co, a transportation infrastructure group, slipped 4.3 percent in its first decline in nine trading sessions. TheHang Seng Index lost 0.2 percent.

China’s gross domestic product has increased at a 6.7 percent clip for three straight quarters, spurring optimism the economy has stabilized. State-owned companies have advanced on bets the government will speed up a structural overhaul and boost spending on large public projects. Chinese authorities in at least 21 cities have introduced home-buying curbs, ranging from raising down-payment requirements to purchase bans. The value of China’s new home sales rose 61 percent in September from a year earlier.

“The market is staging a consolidation after the recent decent gains and some of the leading gainers, such as infrastructure names, are seeing profit taking,” said Wu Kan, a fund manager at Shanshan Finance Co in Shanghai. “The market may continue to go up after the consolidation. The crackdown on the property market is actually potential goodnewsforthestockmarket.”

The Shanghai Composite closed at 3,131.94. The CSI 300 Index was little changed.

the gain in the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index on Tuesday