Mainland stocks rose yesterday for the fifth consecutive day even after the central bank lifted the reserve requirement ratio for banks by 0.5 percentage point on Thursday, due to ample market liquidity as well as good corporate earnings.
The Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.3 per cent to close at a fresh high of 3,323.585 points, led by good earnings from two large brokerages.
Citic Securities reported first-quarter earnings that were 12 times more than in the same period last year and Everbright Securities said earnings were 10 times larger than in the first three months of last year.
The Shenzhen Composite Index rose 1.41 per cent to a new high of 889.201 points. The insurance sector was another driver after a mainland report said regulators might lift a strict restriction on their equity investments.
The nation's top two insurers, Ping An Insurance (Group) and China Life Insurance, gained 0.2 per cent and 0.4 per cent, respectively.
Banking stocks were the losers amid the positive market sentiment due to less lending flexibility arising from the new monetary tightening measure.
