Record trading volume as rally continues
Chinese stocks continued to rally as Thursday turned out to be a good day for investors. Total trading volume on the two bourses came to 1.08 trillion yuan (US$152.8 billion), a record in the past four months.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index climbed 2.13 percent to close at 3,090.57 points, boosted by blue-chips such as financials and property developers.
The smaller Shenzhen Component Index gained 1.29 percent to finish at around 12,269.49 points, while the ChiNext Index edged up 0.20 percent to end the day on 2,424.39.
Non-banking financial institutions, real estate companies and infrastructure construction shares were mostly higher. Zhongtai Securities, China Merchants Securities and 13 other securities brokers saw their shares jump by the daily limit.
Part of the local government special bond issuance quota will be used to replenish the capital of small and medium-sized banks, according to a note released on Wednesday by the State Council,
Small lenders, especially those in relatively poor inland regions, are a weak spot in the financial system, said Nomura.
It expects Beijing to provide more support for banks, especially smaller players, as they play an important role in funding private small and medium-sized enterprises and low-income individuals which have suffered more from the COVID-19 pandemic.