Home appliance makers lead market's gains

The Chinese stock market closed higher on Wednesday, with more than half of the sectors gaining, led by home appliance firms.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index was up 0.19 percent to close at 3,277.44 after a higher opening.

The smaller Shenzhen Component Index jumped 0.59 percent to finish at around 13,659.50, while the ChiNext Index rose 0.23 percent to end the day at 2,750.55.

Combined turnover on the two main bourses came to 729.7 billion yuan (US$108.7 billion), compared with 784.7 billion yuan in the previous session.

Home appliance makers led the gains, with automakers and banks also among the top winners.

Shares in Midea Group, a technology company specializing in robotics, industrial automation, HVAC systems, consumer appliances and smart logistics, rose 3.77 percent to close at 85.66 yuan per share. The market cap of the firm was over 600 billion yuan.

On Tuesday evening, the CPC’s Central Committee released its suggestions on the drafting of the 14th Five-Year Plan and 2035 long-term targets, followed by President Xi Jinping’s explanations.

In addition to the goal of achieving “middle developed economy” status by 2035, President Xi suggested that China has the potential to reach the “high income” threshold by 2025 and could double its real GDP or national income per capita by 2035.

China’s Caixin services purchasing managers' index (PMI), which surveys small and medium-sized enterprises in the services sector from the eastern coastal regions, rose to 56.8 in October from 54.8 in September, above the market consensus of 55.0.

The rise in the reading points to a continued recovery in the services sector thanks to successful containment of COVID-19, the associated relaxation of social distancing requirements and Beijing’s continued policy support for SMEs, according to Nomura.