Chinese stocks soared to their highest level since mid-2011 on Thursday, led by financial and oil shares, as the market’s rally on expectations of further economic stimulus measures showed no signs of losing steam.
Most economists believe it is not a question of whether Beijing will roll out more support measures but when, with many expecting both further interest rate cuts and reductions in banks’ reserve requirement ratios (RRR).
The CSI300 index of the largest listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen rose 4.6 per cent, its biggest one-day percentage gain since July 2013, to 3,104.35 points.
The CSI300 has now surged 20 per cent since the central bank unexpectedly cut interest rates on November 21, stepping up efforts to support the world’s second-biggest economy as it heads towards its slowest expansion in nearly a quarter of a century.
The Shanghai Composite Index gained 4.4 per cent, its biggest daily percentage gain since December 2012.
Almost all of the 19 listed brokerages soared over 9 per cent on expectations that more investors will pile into the market, with 14 brokerages hitting their 10 per cent daily limit.
Oil shares
Oil shares also performed strongly, with China’s biggest energy firms PetroChina hitting its 10 per cent daily limit.
Among the most active stocks in Shanghai were Bank of China , up 3.2 per cent to 3.52 yuan; Minsheng Bank, up 9.37 per cent to 8.99 yuan and Everbright Bank, up 6.00 per cent to 4.24 yuan.
In Shenzhen, BOE Technology, up 3.1 per cent to 2.99 yuan; TCL Corp, up 1.5 per cent to 3.51 yuan and Changjiang Securities, up 10.0 per cent to 12.47 yuan, were among the most actively traded.
Mutual market access programme
Foreign investment flowing into Shanghai from Hong Kong through the mutual market access pilot programme took up 3.52 billion yuan of the 13 billion yuan daily quota.
Total volume of A shares traded in Shanghai was 53.2 billion shares, while Shenzhen volume was 27.3 billion shares.