Shanghai shares end at 22-month high

Shanghai stocks closed at a 22-month high yesterday, bolstered by banks and steelmakers.

The Shanghai Composite Index ended at 3,447.84 points, up 0.44 percent from Friday and notched a six-day rebound to hit a peak since January 2016.

Steelmakers and banks led gainers today, with Fangda Special Steel Technology Co jumping by the daily limit of 10 percent to 14.73 yuan (US$2.22), as did Jiangsu Wujiang Rural Commercial Bank Co to 10.63 yuan.

Steelmakers rose after the National Bureau of Statistics reported that  76.7 percent of the domestically produced steel were used during the third quarter, up 4.4 percent from a year ago.

“Steel is one of the sectors attracting most of the capital in the market,” said Zhu Bin, strategic analyst at Southwest Securities.

Meanwhile banks rebounded following the central government’s decision on Friday to raise the limit on foreign ownership in joint-venture financial companies to 51 percent from 49 percent.

The measure will ease curbs on investment flows into the banking sector in China, with investors hopeful of more development in domestic banking, said Raymond Yeung, ANZ’s chief economist for China.