Stocks rise as market cheers dispute meeting

Chinese mainland benchmark stock indexes jumped over 1 percent on Thursday, as investors cheered the prospect of fresh US trade talks with China.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index was up 1.15 percent to end at 2,686.58 points. Meanwhile, the blue-chip CSI300 index rose 1.08 percent to end at 3,236.57 points.

The Trump administration has invited Chinese officials to restart trade talks, the White House’s top economic adviser said on Wednesday, as Washington prepares to escalate the US-China trade war with tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods.

“The trade war has been a hot topic in the market all year long. The lack of clarity has been a major influence on the A-share market and so to have a good signal at this low point certainly has had an effect,” said Li Zheming, an analyst at Datong Securities in Dalian, Northeast China’s Liaoning Province.

The CSI300 healthcare sub-index, which had earlier fallen as much as 5 percent and weighed on the broader index, trimmed losses to end 1.8 percent lower.

Healthcare companies have significantly outperformed the broader market in the year to date, falling 5 percent compared to nearly 20 percent for the CSI300.