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 +0.48%  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 0.00%   /zigman2/quotes/204682472/delayed HK:3988 +0.37%  soaring 9.9%, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd. /zigman2/quotes/202525815/delayed CN:601398 +0.20%   /zigman2/quotes/201401473/delayed HK:1398 +0.99%  leaping 6%, and Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. /zigman2/quotes/204629388/delayed CN:601288 0.00%   /zigman2/quotes/200705246/delayed HK:1288 +1.02%  spiking 5.6%. Shares of China Life Insurance Co. Ltd. /zigman2/quotes/204766889/delayed CN:601628 +1.68%   /zigman2/quotes/202359856/delayed HK:2628 -0.23%  were suspended from trading after a 10% surge, and Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China /zigman2/quotes/202773380/delayed CN:601318 +1.29%   /zigman2/quotes/210315058/delayed HK:2318 +0.62%  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 +2.16%  closing up 1.7%. The Hang Seng China Enterprises /zigman2/quotes/210598031/delayed CN:160462 +2.41%  , which tracks Hong Kong-listed mainland Chinese companies, added 2.4%.

However, in Japan, the Nikkei Average /zigman2/quotes/210597971/delayed JP:NIK +0.67%  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 +0.29%  also fell 0.5%.

The yen /zigman2/quotes/210561789/realtime/sampled USDJPY -0.0511%   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 +0.36%   finished up 1.6%, and Seoul’s Kospi Composite Index /zigman2/quotes/210598069/delayed KR:180721 +2.18%   edged 0.2% higher.

/zigman2/quotes/210598127/delayed

Add to watchlist CN:SHCOMP

Shanghai Composite Index

CN : China: Shanghai

3,624.24

+17.49 +0.48%

Volume: 32.73B

Jan. 25, 2021 3:01p

/zigman2/quotes/209359942/delayed

Add to watchlist CN:601988

Bank of China Ltd.

CN : China: Shanghai

¥ 3.17

0.00 0.00%

Volume: 97.41M

Jan. 25, 2021 3:00p

P/E Ratio

5.38

Dividend Yield

6.03%

Market Cap

¥857.42 billion

Rev. per Employee

¥2.98M

/zigman2/quotes/204682472/delayed

Add to watchlist HK:3988

Bank of China Ltd.

HK : Hong Kong

HK$ 2.72

+0.01 +0.37%

Volume: 175.82M

Jan. 25, 2021 3:01p

P/E Ratio

4.16

Dividend Yield

7.70%

Market Cap

HK$1026.16 billion

Rev. per Employee

N/A

/zigman2/quotes/202525815/delayed

Add to watchlist CN:601398

Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd.

CN : China: Shanghai

¥ 5.05

+0.01 +0.20%

Volume: 219.06M

Jan. 25, 2021 3:00p

P/E Ratio

6.22

Dividend Yield

5.20%

Market Cap

¥1724.36 billion

Rev. per Employee

¥2.88M

/zigman2/quotes/201401473/delayed

Add to watchlist HK:1398

Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd.

HK : Hong Kong

HK$ 5.09

+0.05 +0.99%

Volume: 138.50M

Jan. 25, 2021 3:01p

P/E Ratio

5.65

Dividend Yield

5.65%

Market Cap

HK$2063.71 billion

Rev. per Employee

HK$3.26M

/zigman2/quotes/204629388/delayed

Add to watchlist CN:601288

Agricultural Bank of China Ltd.

CN : China: Shanghai

¥ 3.14

0.00 0.00%

Volume: 171.86M

Jan. 25, 2021 3:00p

P/E Ratio

5.20

Dividend Yield

5.79%

Market Cap

¥1077.68 billion

Rev. per Employee

¥2.16M

/zigman2/quotes/200705246/delayed

Add to watchlist HK:1288

Agricultural Bank of China Ltd.

HK : Hong Kong

HK$ 2.96

+0.03 +1.02%

Volume: 127.75M

Jan. 25, 2021 3:01p

P/E Ratio

4.74

Dividend Yield

6.73%

Market Cap

HK$1289.77 billion

Rev. per Employee

HK$2.48M

/zigman2/quotes/204766889/delayed

Add to watchlist CN:601628

China Life Insurance Co. Ltd. A

CN : China: Shanghai

¥ 38.66

+0.64 +1.68%

Volume: 20.60M

Jan. 25, 2021 3:00p

P/E Ratio

23.09

Dividend Yield

1.89%

Market Cap

¥899.90 billion

Rev. per Employee

N/A

/zigman2/quotes/202359856/delayed

Add to watchlist HK:2628

China Life Insurance Co. Ltd.

HK : Hong Kong

HK$ 17.36

-0.04 -0.23%

Volume: 48.29M

Jan. 25, 2021 3:01p

P/E Ratio

8.65

Dividend Yield

4.61%

Market Cap

HK$1076.99 billion

Rev. per Employee

HK$7.83M

/zigman2/quotes/202773380/delayed

Add to watchlist CN:601318

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

CN : China: Shanghai

¥ 84.88

+1.08 +1.29%

Volume: 127.98M

Jan. 25, 2021 3:00p

P/E Ratio

11.91

Dividend Yield

2.47%

Market Cap

¥1508.65 billion

Rev. per Employee

¥3.17M

/zigman2/quotes/210315058/delayed

Add to watchlist HK:2318

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

HK : Hong Kong

HK$ 98.10

+0.60 +0.62%

Volume: 18.86M

Jan. 25, 2021 3:01p

P/E Ratio

13.12

Dividend Yield

2.36%

Market Cap

HK$1805.54 billion

Rev. per Employee

HK$3.35M

/zigman2/quotes/210598030/delayed

Add to watchlist HK:HSI

Hang Seng Index

HK : Hong Kong Exchange

30,084.12

+636.27 +2.16%

Volume: 2.37M

Jan. 25, 2021 3:01p

/zigman2/quotes/210598031/delayed

Add to watchlist CN:HSCEI

Hang Seng China Enterprises Index

CN : Hong Kong Exchange

11,958.78

+281.33 +2.41%

Volume: 0.00

Jan. 25, 2021 3:01p

/zigman2/quotes/210597971/delayed

Add to watchlist JP:NIK

NIKKEI 225 Index

JP : Nikkei

28,822.29

+190.84 +0.67%

Volume: 0.00

Jan. 25, 2021 3:15p

/zigman2/quotes/210598092/delayed

Add to watchlist JP:I0000

TOPIX Index

JP : Tokyo Exchange (TOPIX)

1,862.00

+5.36 +0.29%

Volume: 0.00

Jan. 25, 2021 3:00p

/zigman2/quotes/210561789/realtime/sampled

Add to watchlist USDJPY

Japanese Yen

US : Tullett Prebon

103.7080

-0.0530 -0.0511%

Volume: 0.0000

Jan. 25, 2021 2:16a

/zigman2/quotes/210598100/delayed

Add to watchlist AU:XJO

S&P/ASX 200 Benchmark Index

AU : S&P ASX

6,824.70

+24.30 +0.36%

Volume: 381,082

Jan. 25, 2021 4:51p

/zigman2/quotes/210598069/delayed

Add to watchlist KR:SEU

KOSPI Composite Index

KR : Korea Exchange

3,208.99

+68.36 +2.18%

Volume: 1.02M

Jan. 25, 2021 3:30p