Tariffs announcement boosts share prices

China stocks continued to perform strongly on Thursday as authorities announced a cut to tariffs on some US products next week.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index jumped 1.72 percent to 2,866.51 points, while the smaller Shenzhen Component soared 2.87 percent. The ChiNext Component Index, meanwhile, posted a sharp rise of 3.74 percent to close above the 2,000-point level at 2,012.25 points, while the blue chip CSI300 Index ended 1.86 percent higher at 3,899.78 points.

Turnover on the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges added up to 913.5 billion yuan (US$130.9 billion), expanding from 872.3 billion yuan in the previous session. This marked the first time since April 11 last year that turnover on the two major bourses exceeded 800 billion yuan for three sessions in a row.

As of close, mainland markets saw a net influx of foreign capital reaching 10.56 billion yuan through the Stock Connect schemes linking Shanghai and Shenzhen with Hong Kong.

The Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council said on Thursday that China will halve rates of additional tariffs on some US products worth about US$75 billion from February 14 in a bid to promote healthy and stable development of Sino-US economic and trade relations.

Worries about the coronavirus outbreak have eased to some extent, with investors more confident that the epidemic will be gradually contained.

Stocks of over 250 listed companies surged by the daily limit of 10 percent.

Sub-indexes of all industry sectors posted gains, according to Wind Information.

Media shares led the rise, with stocks of over 20 companies hitting the 10 percent daily cap, including Northern United Publishing & Media Group Co, Zhejiang Daily Digital Culture Group Co, and Chinese Universe Publishing and Media Group Co.

The computer sector also performed strongly, also with over 20 companies seeing stocks soar by the maximum 10 percent.

Stocks related to online education as well as virus prevention and control also extended their sharp rises.

On the STAR Market, 68 of the 80 listed companies posted gains, while the rest declined.

China Galaxy Securities expects stock prices will continue to rebound in spite of some short-term shocks, as investors' concerns about the impact of the coronavirus are relieved by support policies and measures.