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 -0.12%  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 -0.31%   /zigman2/quotes/204682472/delayed HK:3988 -0.41%  soaring 9.9%, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd. /zigman2/quotes/202525815/delayed CN:601398 -0.20%   /zigman2/quotes/201401473/delayed HK:1398 -0.75%  leaping 6%, and Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. /zigman2/quotes/204629388/delayed CN:601288 0.00%   /zigman2/quotes/200705246/delayed HK:1288 -0.41%  spiking 5.6%. Shares of China Life Insurance Co. Ltd. /zigman2/quotes/204766889/delayed CN:601628 -0.39%   /zigman2/quotes/202359856/delayed HK:2628 -0.58%  were suspended from trading after a 10% surge, and Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China /zigman2/quotes/202773380/delayed CN:601318 +0.67%   /zigman2/quotes/210315058/delayed HK:2318 -0.12%  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 -0.32%  closing up 1.7%. The Hang Seng China Enterprises /zigman2/quotes/210598031/delayed CN:160462 -0.73%  , which tracks Hong Kong-listed mainland Chinese companies, added 2.4%.

However, in Japan, the Nikkei Average /zigman2/quotes/210597971/delayed JP:NIK +0.51%  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 +0.48%  also fell 0.5%.

The yen /zigman2/quotes/210561789/realtime/sampled USDJPY -0.0208%   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 +1.51%   finished up 1.6%, and Seoul’s Kospi Composite Index /zigman2/quotes/210598069/delayed KR:180721 +0.27%   edged 0.2% higher.

/zigman2/quotes/210598127/delayed

Add to watchlist CN:SHCOMP

Shanghai Composite Index

CN : China: Shanghai

3,219.42

-3.76 -0.12%

Volume: 16.48B

Sept. 25, 2020 3:01p

/zigman2/quotes/209359942/delayed

Add to watchlist CN:601988

Bank of China Ltd.

CN : China: Shanghai

¥ 3.19

-0.01 -0.31%

Volume: 59.15M

Sept. 25, 2020 3:00p

P/E Ratio

4.97

Dividend Yield

5.99%

Market Cap

¥848.87 billion

Rev. per Employee

¥2.61M

/zigman2/quotes/204682472/delayed

Add to watchlist HK:3988

Bank of China Ltd.

HK : Hong Kong

HK$ 2.40

-0.01 -0.41%

Volume: 249.32M

Sept. 25, 2020 4:08p

P/E Ratio

3.66

Dividend Yield

8.72%

Market Cap

HK$964.73 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

¥ 4.89

-0.01 -0.20%

Volume: 108.00M

Sept. 25, 2020 3:00p

P/E Ratio

5.54

Dividend Yield

5.37%

Market Cap

¥1623.12 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$ 3.99

-0.03 -0.75%

Volume: 319.29M

Sept. 25, 2020 4:08p

P/E Ratio

4.37

Dividend Yield

7.20%

Market Cap

HK$1844.66 billion

Rev. per Employee

HK$3.03M

/zigman2/quotes/204629388/delayed

Add to watchlist CN:601288

Agricultural Bank of China Ltd.

CN : China: Shanghai

¥ 3.15

0.00 0.00%

Volume: 170.13M

Sept. 25, 2020 3:00p

P/E Ratio

5.20

Dividend Yield

5.77%

Market Cap

¥1070.53 billion

Rev. per Employee

¥1.80M

/zigman2/quotes/200705246/delayed

Add to watchlist HK:1288

Agricultural Bank of China Ltd.

HK : Hong Kong

HK$ 2.40

-0.01 -0.41%

Volume: 76.05M

Sept. 25, 2020 4:08p

P/E Ratio

3.80

Dividend Yield

8.30%

Market Cap

HK$1216.65 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

¥ 45.40

-0.18 -0.39%

Volume: 17.81M

Sept. 25, 2020 3:00p

P/E Ratio

25.22

Dividend Yield

1.61%

Market Cap

¥1057.35 billion

Rev. per Employee

¥6.30M

/zigman2/quotes/202359856/delayed

Add to watchlist HK:2628

China Life Insurance Co. Ltd.

HK : Hong Kong

HK$ 17.10

-0.10 -0.58%

Volume: 33.55M

Sept. 25, 2020 4:08p

P/E Ratio

8.52

Dividend Yield

4.68%

Market Cap

HK$1201.67 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

¥ 77.59

+0.52 +0.67%

Volume: 35.67M

Sept. 25, 2020 3:00p

P/E Ratio

10.88

Dividend Yield

2.71%

Market Cap

¥1361.62 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$ 80.35

-0.10 -0.12%

Volume: 18.68M

Sept. 25, 2020 4:08p

P/E Ratio

10.98

Dividend Yield

2.89%

Market Cap

HK$1547.46 billion

Rev. per Employee

HK$3.35M

/zigman2/quotes/210598030/delayed

Add to watchlist HK:HSI

Hang Seng Index

HK : Hong Kong Exchange

23,235.42

-75.65 -0.32%

Volume: 1.79M

Sept. 25, 2020 4:08p

/zigman2/quotes/210598031/delayed

Add to watchlist CN:HSCEI

Hang Seng China Enterprises Index

CN : Hong Kong Exchange

9,302.59

-68.60 -0.73%

Volume: 0.00

Sept. 25, 2020 4:08p

/zigman2/quotes/210597971/delayed

Add to watchlist JP:NIK

NIKKEI 225 Index

JP : Nikkei

23,204.62

+116.80 +0.51%

Volume: 0.00

Sept. 25, 2020 3:15p

/zigman2/quotes/210598092/delayed

Add to watchlist JP:I0000

TOPIX Index

JP : Tokyo Exchange (TOPIX)

1,634.23

+7.79 +0.48%

Volume: 0.00

Sept. 25, 2020 3:00p

/zigman2/quotes/210561789/realtime/sampled

Add to watchlist USDJPY

Japanese Yen

US : Tullett Prebon

105.5680

-0.0220 -0.0208%

Volume: 0.0000

Sept. 25, 2020 4:59p

/zigman2/quotes/210598100/delayed

Add to watchlist AU:XJO

S&P/ASX 200 Benchmark Index

AU : S&P ASX

5,964.90

+89.00 +1.51%

Volume: 673,482

Sept. 25, 2020 5:03p

/zigman2/quotes/210598069/delayed

Add to watchlist KR:SEU

KOSPI Composite Index

KR : Korea Exchange

2,278.79

+6.09 +0.27%

Volume: 697,961

Sept. 25, 2020 3:32p