China stocks reversed course to close higher on Wednesday, as investors hoped the government would speed up rolling out further fiscal stimulus to shore up an economy that has been hobbled by the coronavirus pandemic.

At the close, the Shanghai Composite index was up 0.6% at 2,843.98.

The blue-chip CSI300 index was up 0.82%, with its financial sector sub-index ending 0.01% higher, the consumer staples sector up 3.03%, the real estate index up 0.29% and the healthcare sub-index up 2.04%.

China reported 30 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, 23 of which were so-called imported cases involving travellers from overseas, up from 11 a day earlier.

The smaller Shenzhen index ended up 1.05% and the start-up board ChiNext Composite index was higher by 0.95%.

The largest percentage gainers in the main Shanghai Composite index were Inner Mongolia Junzheng Energy & Chemical Group Co Ltd, which closed 10.16% higher, followed by Ningbo Construction Co Ltd, gaining 10.1% and Apple Flavor & Fragrance Group Co Ltd, up by 10.05%.

So far this year, the Shanghai stock index lost 6.8% and the CSI300 dropped 6.3%, while China's H-share index listed in Hong Kong was down 13.3%. Shanghai stocks gained 3.41% so far this month.

Copyright Reuters, 2020

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