NewChinese shares rally post-holiday to finish up by midsession, but Hong Kong dribbles lower

Chinese shares jumped to a more than three-week top on Thursday, catching up with its regional peers after a week-long-holiday as stimulus measures unveiled by Beijing to bolster the auto and property markets stoked the appetite of punters in the markets.

The Shanghai Composite Index climbed 3.803 per cent or 116.11 points to go to lunch break at a more than three-week-high of 3,168.89. The CSI300 index of Shanghai-Shenzhen large caps jumped 4.092 per cent or 131.05 to 3,334.00.

The small- to mid-cap heavy Shenzhen Composite Index closed the morning session at 1,794.56, up 4.53 per cent or 77.78 points. The NASDAQ-style ChiNext Price Index advanced 5.85 per cent or 121.76 points to trade at 2,204.43 by the midday break.

More than 2400 out of the nearly 3000 stocks trading today on the two mainland bourses posted gains by midsession, with more than 100 soaring by the 10 per cent daily limit.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index eased 0.69 per cent to finish the morning at 22,360.63. The China Enterprises Index, which tracks Hong Kong listed Chinese companies, traded at 10,275.58, down 1.15 points, or 119.21 points.

“The rally is partly driven by the positive economic data released over the holiday break, such as the slightly better-than-expected official manufacturing PMI figure,”said Gerry Alfonso, a director with Shenwan Hongyuan Securities. “There are also some technical reasons for the rebound as investors are likely to start rebuilding portfolios after reducing positions before the holidays.”