Liquor industry has reason to be cheerful

China’s main equity indexes closed mixed on Tuesday, while the liquor industry posted gains.

At close, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index had shed 0.19 percent to 2,810.02 points, while the smaller Shenzhen Component Index rose by 0.47 percent at 10, 501.15 points. The blue chip CSI300 Index advanced 0.69 percent to 3,849.15 points.

Turnover on the two major bourses stood at 673.9 billion yuan (US$94.91 billion) compared with 556.6 billion yuan in the previous trading session.

Chinese mainland markets saw a net inflow of 2.6 billion yuan in overseas capital via Stock Connect schemes linking Shanghai and Shenzhen with Hong Kong.

Most sectors lost with losers outnumbering gainers by 1,221 to 397 on the Shanghai bourse and 1,757to 465 in Shenzhen.

But liquor and securities companies posted strong performances. Sixteen liquor shares increased, with Shanxi Xinghuacun Fen Wine Factory Co Ltd hitting the daily limit of 10 percent.

This was boosted by their good performance in the first quarter, as many major liquor makers released their quarterly reports on Monday night.

The share price of Kweichow Moutai Co Ltd, whose market value topped the industry, rose to 1,279.13 per share, a record high.

Shipbuilding, chemical fertilizers and the petroleum industry suffered the biggest losses of the day.