Shanghai stocks boosted by good news for material producers

Shanghai stocks closed higher on Monday, as investors turned optimistic after the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said that production of building materials remained stable and the industry's efficiency has been further improved.

The Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.72 percent to close at 2,906.17 points.

Shares of iron and steel companies, building materials and non-ferrous metals were among the biggest gainers on Monday.

Fujian Cement Inc jumped 6.16 percent to 7.75 yuan (US$1.1) per share and Luoyang Glass Co Ltd added 2.40 percent to 12.37 yuan.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said on Monday that the building materials industry achieved a total income of 3.8 trillion yuan in the first nine months, an increase of 12.6 percent compared with same period last year.

The ministry also said that industry transformation has achieved great results and high-quality development has been implemented for the building materials sector.

The market also found help in robust foreign inflows ahead of the MSCI's further A-share inclusion. For the day, investors bought a net 7 billion yuan worth of A-shares via the Stock Connect linking Hong Kong and the mainland, as Reuters reported.