Chinese stocks surge, 5G sector leads gains

China’s A-share markets bounced back from early losses on Tuesday, lifted by strong performances from communication companies and financial institutions.

The Shanghai Composite Index jumped by 2.39 percent or 75.81 points to close at 3,253.60. The smaller Shenzhen Component Index added 2.33 percent to end at 10,287.64 points. The two bourses opened lower, but recovered thanks to a rally in banking and brokerage-house stocks.

The ChiNext Index gained 1.84 percent to finish at 1,697.53points.

Combined turnover came to 791.0 billion yuan (US$117.7 billion), up from 775.7 billion yuan the previous trading day.

5G-related companies led the day's gains, with A-shares of ZTE Corporation, a Shenzhen-based leader in telecommunications and information technology, surging by the daily maximum 10 percent to end at 33.55 yuan per share.

Yang Hai, a senior strategist at Kaiyuan Securities, was quoted by Caixin.com as saying that countries throughout the world are racing with each other in the field of 5G communications, contributing to big gains among industry players.

The recovery in stocks also came following signs of resilience in the property market.

Home prices in 70 major Chinese cities edged higher in March, according to the latest data from the National Bureau of Statistics.

New house prices in four first-tier cities — Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou — grew 0.2 percent month on month in March, down slightly from a 0.3 percent increase in February.

Price gains reached an average of 0.6 percent in 31 second-tier cities and 0.7 percent in 35 third-tier cities, the data showed.