NewChinese and Hong Kong shares rally to strong midday finish

China shares rallied in choppy trade on Wednesday, building on its gains from the previous session amid signs investor confidence is gradually coming back after Beijing said it would employ fiscal policy measures to stabilise its sagging economy.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index climbed 1.693 per cent to finish at 3,224.12 points by midsession, reclaiming the psychologically-important 3200-point mark. The CSI 300 Index that tracks the 50 blue-chips listed in the mainland stood at 3,390.25 points, up 1.687 per cent. 

The Shenzhen Composite Index ended its morning session at 1,788.51 points, up 2.70 per cent. The ChiNext Index added 3.49 per cent to 2,070.93.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index closed the morning session up 2.97 per cent, or 630.50 points, to stand at 21,889.54, while the H-share Index added 4.35 per cent, or 412.82 points, to 9,892.30. 

“There seems to be more confidence in the market after the announcement on previous days of a proposal for circuit breakers in the market as well as a sharp decline in futures trading volumes, which is one of the main avenues for shorting the Chinese market,” said Gerry Alfonso, a Shanghai-based director with Shenwan Hongyuan Securities.

Information technologies stocks are among the top gainers in mainland Chinese markets. All but three out of the 146 stocks in this sector posted gains with around 20 of them soaring to their 10 per cent daily limit.