China shares rise on central bank's liquidity boost; EV, healthcare stocks shine

BEIJING/SHANGHAI: China shares rose on Wednesday, led by gains in electric vehicle and healthcare stocks, as the central bank kept liquidity abundant to further support economic recovery from COVID-19.

** By the midday break, the Shanghai Composite index was up 0.01% at 3,566.67, while the blue-chip CSI300 index was up 0.28%.

** Leading the gains, its new-energy vehicle sector sub-index rose 3.6% while the healthcare sub-index was up 2.38%.

** Chinese H-shares listed in Hong Kong rose 0.75% to 11,822.15, while the Hang Seng Index was up 0.26% at 29,718.86.

** The smaller Shenzhen index was up 0.75%, the start-up board ChiNext Composite index was higher by 2.94% and Shanghai's tech-focused STAR50 index was up 1.37%?.

** China's central bank injected a net 278 billion yuan on the day via reverse repo operations, according to Reuters calculation.

** Chinese mom-and-pop investors are stampeding into the stock market for fear of missing out on the bull run, with more than 1.6 million share trading accounts newly opened in December, doubling from a year earlier, latest data shows.

** China's capital Beijing stepped up COVID-19 measures, after reporting the biggest daily jump in new cases in more than three weeks.

** Sentiment in Hong Kong was also buoyed by a $1.9 trillion stimulus package proposal from US President-elect Joe Biden, who will be sworn in later in the day.

** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was firmer by 2.03% while Japan's Nikkei index was down 0.74%.

** The yuan was quoted at 6.4698 per US dollar, 0.16% firmer than the previous close of 6.48.