Stocks up on robust consumer, material gains

Chinese stocks rallied on Thursday, underpinned by robust gains in consumer and materials firms.

At the close, the Shanghai Composite Index was up 20.60 points, or 0.63 percent, at 3,296.38.

Meanwhile, the blue-chip CSI300 index was up 0.69 percent, with its financial sector subindex higher by 0.06 percent.

The SZSE Component Index ended up 0.58 percent and the start-up board ChiNext Composite Index was down 0.01 percent.

The largest percentage gainers in the main Shanghai Composite Index were Zijin Mining Group Co up 10.09 percent, followed by Qinghaibased Xining Special Steel Co gaining 10.08 percent and Henan Zhongfu Industrial Co up by 10.06 percent.

The largest percentage losers in the Shanghai index were Changchun Gas Co down 7.67 percent, followed by Wenyi Suntech Co losing 7.21 percent and Shanghai Mechanical & Electrical Industry Co down by 6.24 percent.

So far this year, the Shanghai stock index is up 5.55 percent, the CSI300 is up 21.4 percent, while China’s H-share index listed in Hong Kong is up 23.7 percent. Shanghai stocks have declined 1.25 percent so far this month.

About 17.54 billion shares were traded on the Shanghai exchange Thursday, roughly 113.5 percent of the market’s 30-day moving average of 15.46 billion shares a day.

The volume in the previous trading session was 16.27 billion.

The price-to-earnings ratio of the Shanghai index was 14.71 as of the last full trading day while the dividend yield was 2 percent.