China shares rose early Wednesday, led by banking and consumer stocks, and were on track to climb for a ninth straight session.
China's December producer prices grew at their slowest pace in 13 months as the government's stepped-up war against winter smog dented factory demand for raw materials, and the country's consumer inflation accelerated less than expected to 1.8 per cent in December from 1.7 per cent previously.
At 04:03 GMT, the Shanghai Composite index was up 11.94 points or 0.35 per cent at 3,425.84. China's blue-chip CSI300 index was up 0.49 per cent, with its financial sector sub-index higher by 0.82 per cent, the consumer staples sector up 1 per cent, the real estate index up 0.36 per cent and healthcare sub-index down 0.37 per cent.
Chinese H-shares listed in Hong Kong rose 0.92 per cent to 12,368.42, while the Hang Seng Index was up 0.68 per cent at 31,223.19. The smaller Shenzhen index was down 0.35 per cent and the start-up board ChiNext Composite index was weaker by 0.67 per cent.
Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was weaker by 0.18 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei index was down 0.21 per cent. The yuan was quoted at 6.5216 per US dollar, 0.11 per cent firmer than the previous close of 6.5285.
The largest percentage gainers in the main Shanghai Composite index were Easysight Supply Chain Management Co Ltd up 10 per cent, followed by Shanghai Prosolar Resources Development Co Ltd gaining 9.98 per cent and Shanghai U9 Game Co Ltd 9.96 per cent.
The largest percentage losses in the Shanghai index were Cultural Investment Holdings Co Ltd down 5.94 per cent, followed by Kama Co Ltd losing 5.33 per cent and BOCO Inter-Telecom Co Ltd down by 5.06 per cent. So far this year, the Shanghai stock index is up 3.23 percent, while China's H-share index is up 4.7 per cent.
The top gainers among H-shares were China Merchants Bank Co Ltd up 3.53 per cent, followed by China Citic Bank Corp Ltd gaining 3.52 per cent and Anhui Conch Cement Co Ltd up by 3.06 per cent. The three biggest H-shares percentage decliners were Great Wall Motor Co Ltd which has fallen 4.87 per cent, Air China Ltd which has lost 1.7 per cent and New China Life Insurance Co Ltd down by 1.5 per cent.
About 12.06 billion shares have traded so far on the Shanghai exchange, roughly 77.2 per cent of the market's 30-day moving average of 15.61 billion shares a day. The volume traded was 19.15 billion as of the last full trading day.
As of 04:03 GMT, China's A-shares were trading at a premium of 26.43 per cent over the Hong Kong-listed H-shares. The Shanghai stock index is above its 50-day moving average and above its 200-day moving average. The price-to-earnings ratio of the Shanghai index was 15.38 as of the last full trading day while the dividend yield was 1.9 per cent.
So far this week, the market capitalisation of the Shanghai stock index has risen by 0.68 per cent to 29.91 trillion yuan. In Hong Kong, the sub-index of the Hang Seng index tracking energy shares rose 2 per cent, while the IT sector fell 0.2 per cent. The top gainer on Hang Seng was Country Garden Holdings Company Ltd up 6.35 per cent, while the biggest loser was Link Real Estate Investment Trust which was down 2.15 per cent.