Shanghai stocks soar

Shanghai stocks reversed early losses to end firmer on Wednesday, bolstered by a surge in property shares and resources firms. At the close, the Shanghai Composite index was up 4.35 points or 0.13 percent at 3,338.00. The blue-chip CSI300 index was down 0.05 percent, with its financial sector sub-index higher by 0.77 percent, the consumer staples sector down 2.39 percent, the real estate index up 6.96 percent and healthcare sub-index down 1.49 percent.
The smaller Shenzhen index ended up 0.04 percent and the start-up board ChiNext Composite index was weaker by 0.36 percent. Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was firmer by 0.11 percent while Japan's Nikkei index closed up 0.49 percent. The largest percentage gainers in the main Shanghai Composite index were Poly Real Estate Group Co Ltd up 10.02 percent, followed by Shanghai Chinafortune Co Ltd gaining 10.02 percent and SJEC Corp up by 10 percent.
The largest percentage losses in the Shanghai index were Zhejiang Hisun Pharmaceutical Co Ltd down 7.67 percent, followed by HUAYU Automotive Systems Co Ltd losing 5.61 percent and Joincare Pharmaceutical Group Industry Co Ltd down by 4.74 percent. So far this year, the Shanghai stock index is up 7.41 percent, while China's H-share index listed in Hong Kong is up 24.6 percent. Shanghai stocks have declined 1.76 percent this month. About 18.38 billion shares were traded on the Shanghai exchange, roughly 106.2 percent of the market's 30-day moving average of 17.32 billion shares a day. The volume in the previous trading session was 13.82 billion.
The price-to-earnings ratio of the Shanghai index was 14.89 as of the last full trading day while the dividend yield was 1.9 percent. So far this week, the market capitalisation of the Shanghai stock index has fallen by -0.66 percent to 28.93 trillion yuan.