Chinese stocks shoot up, marking best gain in five years

By Laura He, MarketWatch

Reuters

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Shanghai stocks rebound strongly on Wednesday, while Japan shares retreat.

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Chinese stocks posted their strongest advance since late 2009 on Wednesday, with the financial sector leading gains.

Mainland China’s benchmark Shanghai Composite Index /zigman2/quotes/210598127/delayed CN:SHCOMP -1.95%  shot up 4.7%, marking its biggest daily percentage increase since October 2009, extending gains after Tuesday’s 1.8% advance. On Tuesday, China reported a higher-than-expected economic growth for December.

On Monday, the index tumbled 7.7%, its worst decline in more than six years, triggered by a crackdown on margin trade business by the regulator.

Banks and insurers recovered strongly in Shanghai, with Bank of China Ltd. /zigman2/quotes/209359942/delayed CN:601988 -2.65%   /zigman2/quotes/204682472/delayed HK:3988 -1.40%  soaring 9.9%, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd. /zigman2/quotes/202525815/delayed CN:601398 -2.97%   /zigman2/quotes/201401473/delayed HK:1398 -1.96%  leaping 6%, and Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. /zigman2/quotes/204629388/delayed CN:601288 -2.84%   /zigman2/quotes/200705246/delayed HK:1288 -2.63%  spiking 5.6%. Shares of China Life Insurance Co. Ltd. /zigman2/quotes/204766889/delayed CN:601628 -7.05%   /zigman2/quotes/202359856/delayed HK:2628 -6.70%  were suspended from trading after a 10% surge, and Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China /zigman2/quotes/202773380/delayed CN:601318 -4.17%   /zigman2/quotes/210315058/delayed HK:2318 -1.95%  popped 9.5% higher.

The advance in mainland Chinese markets also boosted Hong Kong stocks, with the Hang Seng Index /zigman2/quotes/210598030/delayed HK:HSI -1.84%  closing up 1.7%. The Hang Seng China Enterprises /zigman2/quotes/210598031/delayed CN:160462 -2.23%  , which tracks Hong Kong-listed mainland Chinese companies, added 2.4%.

However, in Japan, the Nikkei Average /zigman2/quotes/210597971/delayed JP:NIK -1.06%  dropped 0.5%, after the Bank of Japan cut its near-term inflation outlook, while leaving monetary policy unchanged. The broader Topix /zigman2/quotes/210598092/delayed JP:180460 -1.42%  also fell 0.5%.

The yen /zigman2/quotes/210561789/realtime/sampled USDJPY -0.0009%   strengthened versus the dollar, trading at ¥117.67, compared with ¥118.70 late Tuesday in New York.

Other Asian markets ended higher, as Sydney’s S&P/ASX 200 /zigman2/quotes/210598100/delayed AU:XJO -0.61%   finished up 1.6%, and Seoul’s Kospi Composite Index /zigman2/quotes/210598069/delayed KR:180721 -0.81%   edged 0.2% higher.

/zigman2/quotes/210598127/delayed

Add to watchlist CN:SHCOMP

Shanghai Composite Index

CN : China: Shanghai

3,383.32

-67.27 -1.95%

Volume: 55.61B

July 10, 2020 3:01p

/zigman2/quotes/209359942/delayed

Add to watchlist CN:601988

Bank of China Ltd.

CN : China: Shanghai

¥ 3.67

-0.10 -2.65%

Volume: 243.88M

July 10, 2020 3:00p

P/E Ratio

5.72

Dividend Yield

5.20%

Market Cap

¥985.83 billion

Rev. per Employee

¥2.61M

/zigman2/quotes/204682472/delayed

Add to watchlist HK:3988

Bank of China Ltd.

HK : Hong Kong

HK$ 2.81

-0.04 -1.40%

Volume: 323.32M

July 10, 2020 4:08p

P/E Ratio

3.89

Dividend Yield

7.45%

Market Cap

HK$1090.67 billion

Rev. per Employee

HK$3.13M

/zigman2/quotes/202525815/delayed

Add to watchlist CN:601398

Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd.

CN : China: Shanghai

¥ 5.22

-0.16 -2.97%

Volume: 626.08M

July 10, 2020 3:00p

P/E Ratio

5.91

Dividend Yield

5.03%

Market Cap

¥1798.84 billion

Rev. per Employee

¥2.53M

/zigman2/quotes/201401473/delayed

Add to watchlist HK:1398

Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd.

HK : Hong Kong

HK$ 4.99

-0.10 -1.96%

Volume: 172.10M

July 10, 2020 4:08p

P/E Ratio

5.03

Dividend Yield

5.76%

Market Cap

HK$1990.15 billion

Rev. per Employee

HK$3.03M

/zigman2/quotes/204629388/delayed

Add to watchlist CN:601288

Agricultural Bank of China Ltd.

CN : China: Shanghai

¥ 3.36

-0.10 -2.84%

Volume: 548.93M

July 10, 2020 3:00p

P/E Ratio

5.54

Dividend Yield

5.41%

Market Cap

¥1154.90 billion

Rev. per Employee

¥1.80M

/zigman2/quotes/200705246/delayed

Add to watchlist HK:1288

Agricultural Bank of China Ltd.

HK : Hong Kong

HK$ 2.96

-0.08 -2.63%

Volume: 118.48M

July 10, 2020 4:08p

P/E Ratio

4.29

Dividend Yield

6.73%

Market Cap

HK$1277.73 billion

Rev. per Employee

HK$2.16M

/zigman2/quotes/204766889/delayed

Add to watchlist CN:601628

China Life Insurance Co. Ltd. A

CN : China: Shanghai

¥ 40.90

-3.10 -7.05%

Volume: 66.52M

July 10, 2020 3:00p

P/E Ratio

23.59

Dividend Yield

1.78%

Market Cap

¥982.84 billion

Rev. per Employee

¥6.30M

/zigman2/quotes/202359856/delayed

Add to watchlist HK:2628

China Life Insurance Co. Ltd.

HK : Hong Kong

HK$ 19.50

-1.40 -6.70%

Volume: 124.37M

July 10, 2020 4:08p

P/E Ratio

8.29

Dividend Yield

4.10%

Market Cap

HK$1087.36 billion

Rev. per Employee

HK$7.60M

/zigman2/quotes/202773380/delayed

Add to watchlist CN:601318

Ping An Insurance (Group) Co. of China Ltd. A

CN : China: Shanghai

¥ 82.34

-3.58 -4.17%

Volume: 146.66M

July 10, 2020 3:00p

P/E Ratio

11.55

Dividend Yield

2.49%

Market Cap

¥1477.91 billion

Rev. per Employee

¥2.83M

/zigman2/quotes/210315058/delayed

Add to watchlist HK:2318

Ping An Insurance (Group) Co. of China Ltd.

HK : Hong Kong

HK$ 87.90

-1.75 -1.95%

Volume: 41.65M

July 10, 2020 4:08p

P/E Ratio

10.93

Dividend Yield

2.57%

Market Cap

HK$1635.09 billion

Rev. per Employee

HK$3.35M

/zigman2/quotes/210598030/delayed

Add to watchlist HK:HSI

Hang Seng Index

HK : Hong Kong Exchange

25,727.41

-482.75 -1.84%

Volume: 2.14M

July 10, 2020 4:08p

/zigman2/quotes/210598031/delayed

Add to watchlist CN:HSCEI

Hang Seng China Enterprises Index

CN : Hong Kong Exchange

10,541.26

-240.63 -2.23%

Volume: 0.00

July 10, 2020 4:08p

/zigman2/quotes/210597971/delayed

Add to watchlist JP:NIK

NIKKEI 225 Index

JP : Nikkei

22,290.81

-238.48 -1.06%

Volume: 0.00

July 10, 2020 3:15p

/zigman2/quotes/210598092/delayed

Add to watchlist JP:I0000

TOPIX Index

JP : Tokyo Exchange (TOPIX)

1,535.20

-22.04 -1.42%

Volume: 0.00

July 10, 2020 3:00p

/zigman2/quotes/210561789/realtime/sampled

Add to watchlist USDJPY

Japanese Yen

US : Tullett Prebon

106.9200

-0.0010 -0.0009%

Volume: 0.0000

July 10, 2020 4:59p

/zigman2/quotes/210598100/delayed

Add to watchlist AU:XJO

S&P/ASX 200 Benchmark Index

AU : S&P ASX

5,919.20

-36.30 -0.61%

Volume: 565,369

July 10, 2020 5:10p

/zigman2/quotes/210598069/delayed

Add to watchlist KR:SEU

KOSPI Composite Index

KR : Korea Exchange

2,150.25

-17.65 -0.81%

Volume: 886,987

July 10, 2020 3:32p