THE Shanghai Composite Index surpassed 3,000 for the first time in three years and a gauge of the nation’s biggest companies capped a record winning streak on optimism shares will extend their world-beating rally.
The Shanghai Composite climbed 2.8 percent to 3,020.26 at the close, the highest level since April 2011. The CSI 300 Index jumped 4.1 percent, extending gains to 28 percent during the 12-day advance.
The Shanghai Composite’s 24 percent rally over the past month, the most among 93 global indexes, is spurring investors to open share accounts at the fastest pace in three years and boosting turnover to record highs.
The value of shares that changed hands on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges surged to 960 billion yuan (US$156 billion), approaching the 1.05-trillion- yuan record it reached Friday.
The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index in Hong Kong rose 2.4 percent to the highest level since February 2013. The Hang Seng Index climbed 0.2 percent. Trading in Chinese stocks remains volatile after the Shanghai index posted the biggest price swings in four years Friday. The index’s 30-day volatility surged to a 13-month high, while trading volumes were 85 percent above the 30-day average.
The CSI 300 jumped 11 percent last week, while the Shanghai index climbed 9.5 percent, the most since 2009, amid speculation the government will lower interest rates or lenders’ reserve-requirement ratios to support economic growth.
The stocks surge also spurred the China Securities Regulatory Commission to caution investors about the risks of investing. Illegal activities including stock manipulation have recently been re-emerging and investors should invest rationally, Deng Ge, a spokesman for the CSRC, said in a statement Friday on the agency’s website. A stable market is important for the economy, Deng said.
Investors bought 113 billion yuan of shares using margin debt on the Shanghai bourse Friday, taking the outstanding value of stock purchases through borrowed money to a record 575 billion yuan, according to data from the bourse.(SD-Agencies)
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