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 +0.43%  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 +1.29%  soaring 9.9%, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd. /zigman2/quotes/202525815/delayed CN:601398 -0.35%   /zigman2/quotes/201401473/delayed HK:1398 +1.09%  leaping 6%, and Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. /zigman2/quotes/204629388/delayed CN:601288 -0.28%   /zigman2/quotes/200705246/delayed HK:1288 +0.63%  spiking 5.6%. Shares of China Life Insurance Co. Ltd. /zigman2/quotes/204766889/delayed CN:601628 -0.78%   /zigman2/quotes/202359856/delayed HK:2628 +1.82%  were suspended from trading after a 10% surge, and Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China /zigman2/quotes/202773380/delayed CN:601318 +0.08%   /zigman2/quotes/210315058/delayed HK:2318 +0.56%  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 +1.07%  closing up 1.7%. The Hang Seng China Enterprises /zigman2/quotes/210598031/delayed CN:160462 +0.83%  , which tracks Hong Kong-listed mainland Chinese companies, added 2.4%.

However, in Japan, the Nikkei Average /zigman2/quotes/210597971/delayed JP:NIK +0.23%  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 +0.11%  also fell 0.5%.

The yen /zigman2/quotes/210561789/realtime/sampled USDJPY +0.0157%   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 +1.02%   edged 0.2% higher.

/zigman2/quotes/210598127/delayed

Add to watchlist CN:SHCOMP

Shanghai Composite Index

CN : China: Shanghai

2,912.01

+12.55 +0.43%

Volume: 13.41B

Dec. 6, 2019 3:01p

/zigman2/quotes/209359942/delayed

Add to watchlist CN:601988

Bank of China Ltd.

CN : China: Shanghai

¥ 3.62

0.00 0.00%

Volume: 48.20M

Dec. 6, 2019 3:00p

P/E Ratio

5.72

Dividend Yield

5.08%

Market Cap

¥1065.60 billion

Rev. per Employee

¥2.61M

/zigman2/quotes/204682472/delayed

Add to watchlist HK:3988

Bank of China Ltd.

HK : Hong Kong

HK$ 3.15

+0.04 +1.29%

Volume: 207.23M

Dec. 6, 2019 4:08p

P/E Ratio

4.43

Dividend Yield

6.69%

Market Cap

HK$927.25 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

¥ 5.75

-0.02 -0.35%

Volume: 109.60M

Dec. 6, 2019 3:00p

P/E Ratio

6.62

Dividend Yield

4.36%

Market Cap

¥2049.34 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$ 5.55

+0.06 +1.09%

Volume: 157.84M

Dec. 6, 2019 4:08p

P/E Ratio

5.60

Dividend Yield

5.13%

Market Cap

HK$1978.05 billion

Rev. per Employee

HK$3.03M

/zigman2/quotes/204629388/delayed

Add to watchlist CN:601288

Agricultural Bank of China Ltd.

CN : China: Shanghai

¥ 3.61

-0.01 -0.28%

Volume: 91.74M

Dec. 6, 2019 3:00p

P/E Ratio

5.96

Dividend Yield

4.82%

Market Cap

¥1263.44 billion

Rev. per Employee

¥1.80M

/zigman2/quotes/200705246/delayed

Add to watchlist HK:1288

Agricultural Bank of China Ltd.

HK : Hong Kong

HK$ 3.19

+0.02 +0.63%

Volume: 66.98M

Dec. 6, 2019 4:08p

P/E Ratio

4.70

Dividend Yield

6.20%

Market Cap

HK$1116.45 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

¥ 33.04

-0.26 -0.78%

Volume: 9.41M

Dec. 6, 2019 3:00p

P/E Ratio

18.97

Dividend Yield

0.48%

Market Cap

¥933.87 billion

Rev. per Employee

¥6.30M

/zigman2/quotes/202359856/delayed

Add to watchlist HK:2628

China Life Insurance Co. Ltd.

HK : Hong Kong

HK$ 20.10

+0.36 +1.82%

Volume: 37.46M

Dec. 6, 2019 4:08p

P/E Ratio

10.07

Dividend Yield

0.91%

Market Cap

HK$568.12 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

¥ 84.74

+0.07 +0.08%

Volume: 27.21M

Dec. 6, 2019 3:00p

P/E Ratio

10.53

Dividend Yield

2.18%

Market Cap

¥1544.19 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$ 89.80

+0.50 +0.56%

Volume: 14.79M

Dec. 6, 2019 4:08p

P/E Ratio

9.51

Dividend Yield

2.36%

Market Cap

HK$1636.40 billion

Rev. per Employee

HK$3.35M

/zigman2/quotes/210598030/delayed

Add to watchlist HK:HSI

Hang Seng Index

HK : Hong Kong Exchange

26,498.37

+281.33 +1.07%

Volume: 1.64M

Dec. 6, 2019 4:08p

/zigman2/quotes/210598031/delayed

Add to watchlist CN:HSCEI

Hang Seng China Enterprises Index

CN : Hong Kong Exchange

10,407.18

+85.35 +0.83%

Volume: 0.00

Dec. 6, 2019 4:08p

/zigman2/quotes/210597971/delayed

Add to watchlist JP:NIK

NIKKEI 225 Index

JP : Nikkei

23,354.40

+54.31 +0.23%

Volume: 0.00

Dec. 6, 2019 3:15p

/zigman2/quotes/210598092/delayed

Add to watchlist JP:I0000

TOPIX Index

JP : Tokyo Exchange (TOPIX)

1,713.36

+1.95 +0.11%

Volume: 0.00

Dec. 6, 2019 3:00p

/zigman2/quotes/210561789/realtime/sampled

Add to watchlist USDJPY

Japanese Yen

US : Tullett Prebon

108.6050

+0.0170 +0.0157%

Volume: 0.0000

Dec. 6, 2019 4:59p

/zigman2/quotes/210598100/delayed

Add to watchlist AU:XJO

S&P/ASX 200 Benchmark Index

AU : S&P ASX

6,707.00

+24.00 +0.36%

Volume: 459,318

Dec. 6, 2019 5:09p

/zigman2/quotes/210598069/delayed

Add to watchlist KR:SEU

KOSPI Composite Index

KR : Korea Exchange

2,081.85

+21.11 +1.02%

Volume: 440,188

Dec. 6, 2019 6:01p