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 -0.23%  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 -0.60%   /zigman2/quotes/204682472/delayed HK:3988 0.00%  soaring 9.9%, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd. /zigman2/quotes/202525815/delayed CN:601398 -0.74%   /zigman2/quotes/201401473/delayed HK:1398 -1.11%  leaping 6%, and Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. /zigman2/quotes/204629388/delayed CN:601288 -0.90%   /zigman2/quotes/200705246/delayed HK:1288 -1.28%  spiking 5.6%. Shares of China Life Insurance Co. Ltd. /zigman2/quotes/204766889/delayed CN:601628 +1.79%   /zigman2/quotes/202359856/delayed HK:2628 +1.16%  were suspended from trading after a 10% surge, and Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China /zigman2/quotes/202773380/delayed CN:601318 +0.20%   /zigman2/quotes/210315058/delayed HK:2318 -0.95%  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 +0.47%  closing up 1.7%. The Hang Seng China Enterprises /zigman2/quotes/210598031/delayed CN:160462 +0.46%  , which tracks Hong Kong-listed mainland Chinese companies, added 2.4%.

However, in Japan, the Nikkei Average /zigman2/quotes/210597971/delayed JP:NIK +2.38%  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 +1.82%  also fell 0.5%.

The yen /zigman2/quotes/210561789/realtime/sampled USDJPY -0.0379%   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 +0.83%   finished up 1.6%, and Seoul’s Kospi Composite Index /zigman2/quotes/210598069/delayed KR:180721 +0.18%   edged 0.2% higher.

/zigman2/quotes/210598127/delayed

Add to watchlist CN:SHCOMP

Shanghai Composite Index

CN : China: Shanghai

3,465.11

-7.82 -0.23%

Volume: 25.11B

April 22, 2021 3:01p

/zigman2/quotes/209359942/delayed

Add to watchlist CN:601988

Bank of China Ltd.

CN : China: Shanghai

¥ 3.29

-0.02 -0.60%

Volume: 158.01M

April 22, 2021 3:00p

P/E Ratio

5.02

Dividend Yield

5.99%

Market Cap

¥915.16 billion

Rev. per Employee

¥2.95M

/zigman2/quotes/204682472/delayed

Add to watchlist HK:3988

Bank of China Ltd.

HK : Hong Kong

HK$ 3.11

0.00 0.00%

Volume: 242.75M

April 22, 2021 4:08p

P/E Ratio

4.22

Dividend Yield

7.58%

Market Cap

HK$1093.82 billion

Rev. per Employee

HK$3.34M

/zigman2/quotes/202525815/delayed

Add to watchlist CN:601398

Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd.

CN : China: Shanghai

¥ 5.33

-0.04 -0.74%

Volume: 211.50M

April 22, 2021 3:00p

P/E Ratio

6.01

Dividend Yield

4.99%

Market Cap

¥1839.95 billion

Rev. per Employee

N/A

/zigman2/quotes/201401473/delayed

Add to watchlist HK:1398

Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd.

HK : Hong Kong

HK$ 5.34

-0.06 -1.11%

Volume: 272.30M

April 22, 2021 4:08p

P/E Ratio

5.51

Dividend Yield

5.96%

Market Cap

HK$2199.16 billion

Rev. per Employee

N/A

/zigman2/quotes/204629388/delayed

Add to watchlist CN:601288

Agricultural Bank of China Ltd.

CN : China: Shanghai

¥ 3.30

-0.03 -0.90%

Volume: 192.22M

April 22, 2021 3:00p

P/E Ratio

5.87

Dividend Yield

5.61%

Market Cap

¥1143.58 billion

Rev. per Employee

N/A

/zigman2/quotes/200705246/delayed

Add to watchlist HK:1288

Agricultural Bank of China Ltd.

HK : Hong Kong

HK$ 3.09

-0.04 -1.28%

Volume: 131.11M

April 22, 2021 4:08p

P/E Ratio

4.46

Dividend Yield

7.16%

Market Cap

HK$1366.84 billion

Rev. per Employee

HK$2.59M

/zigman2/quotes/204766889/delayed

Add to watchlist CN:601628

China Life Insurance Co. Ltd. A

CN : China: Shanghai

¥ 31.33

+0.55 +1.79%

Volume: 19.28M

April 22, 2021 3:00p

P/E Ratio

17.70

Dividend Yield

2.04%

Market Cap

¥737.95 billion

Rev. per Employee

N/A

/zigman2/quotes/202359856/delayed

Add to watchlist HK:2628

China Life Insurance Co. Ltd.

HK : Hong Kong

HK$ 15.76

+0.18 +1.16%

Volume: 78.94M

April 22, 2021 4:08p

P/E Ratio

7.92

Dividend Yield

4.86%

Market Cap

HK$882.01 billion

Rev. per Employee

HK$8.57M

/zigman2/quotes/202773380/delayed

Add to watchlist CN:601318

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

CN : China: Shanghai

¥ 74.37

+0.15 +0.20%

Volume: 56.07M

April 22, 2021 3:00p

P/E Ratio

11.02

Dividend Yield

2.96%

Market Cap

¥1366.57 billion

Rev. per Employee

¥3.54M

/zigman2/quotes/210315058/delayed

Add to watchlist HK:2318

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

HK : Hong Kong

HK$ 86.20

-0.83 -0.95%

Volume: 44.31M

April 22, 2021 4:08p

P/E Ratio

9.75

Dividend Yield

2.98%

Market Cap

HK$1633.36 billion

Rev. per Employee

HK$3.74M

/zigman2/quotes/210598030/delayed

Add to watchlist HK:HSI

Hang Seng Index

HK : Hong Kong Exchange

28,755.34

+133.42 +0.47%

Volume: 1.93M

April 22, 2021 4:08p

/zigman2/quotes/210598031/delayed

Add to watchlist CN:HSCEI

Hang Seng China Enterprises Index

CN : Hong Kong Exchange

10,939.12

+50.60 +0.46%

Volume: 0.00

April 22, 2021 4:08p

/zigman2/quotes/210597971/delayed

Add to watchlist JP:NIK

NIKKEI 225 Index

JP : Nikkei

29,188.17

+679.62 +2.38%

Volume: 0.00

April 22, 2021 3:15p

/zigman2/quotes/210598092/delayed

Add to watchlist JP:I0000

TOPIX Index

JP : Tokyo Exchange (TOPIX)

1,922.50

+34.32 +1.82%

Volume: 0.00

April 22, 2021 3:00p

/zigman2/quotes/210561789/realtime/sampled

Add to watchlist USDJPY

Japanese Yen

US : Tullett Prebon

108.0140

-0.0410 -0.0379%

Volume: 0.0000

April 22, 2021 4:13p

/zigman2/quotes/210598100/delayed

Add to watchlist AU:XJO

S&P/ASX 200 Benchmark Index

AU : S&P ASX

7,055.40

+57.90 +0.83%

Volume: 663,977

April 22, 2021 5:47p

/zigman2/quotes/210598069/delayed

Add to watchlist KR:SEU

KOSPI Composite Index

KR : Korea Exchange

3,177.52

+5.86 +0.18%

Volume: 1.75M

April 22, 2021 3:30p