Stocks extend rally on infrastructure

CHINA stocks posted gains for the third consecutive session yesterday, led by strong performance in infrastructure shares.

The Shanghai Composite Index advanced 0.93 percent to 2,957.41 points. The smaller Shenzhen Component Index closed 0.69 percent higher at 9,700.32 points, while the bluechip CSI300 index also rose 0.84 percent to 3,886 points

Turnover on the two major bourses expanded to 605.82 billion yuan (US$84.71 billion), compared with 564.41billion yuan on Tuesday. Stocks of over 60 companies listed on the Ashare markets skyrocketed by the daily cap of 10 percent.

Overseas capital continued to flow into the A-share markets for the fifth day in a row, with the net influx via stock connect schemes linking Shanghai and Shenzhen with the Hong Kong market totaling 5.7 billion yuan yesterday.

Real-estate shares led the day’s rally, with five A-share listed firms gaining the maximum 10 percent.

The construction sector and building material companies were also among the biggest gainers. Cendes Co, Xinjiang Communications Construction Group Co and FangDa Carbon New Material Co all had runups of 10 percent.

Petroleum and petrochemical firms, the iron and steel sector, and banks all saw stocks on the advance.

Wind Information sub-indexes for almost all industries posted gains, with only food and beverage, national defense and military, catering and tourism, and pharmaceutical firms dipping slightly.

On the newly launched SSE STAR Market, however, 25 out of the 28 STAR-listed companies posted declines but all less than 5 percent.