By China stocks ended higher in the last trading session before the Lunar New Year holiday, with bluechip stocks scaling an over 13year high on Wednesday as strong inflation data underscored a recovery in the worlds secondlargest economy.
The bluechip CSI300 index rose 2.1 to 5,807.72, the highest since Oct. 17, 2007, while the Shanghai Composite Index added 1.4 to 3,655.09.
For the holidayshortened week, CSI300 climbed 5.9, while SSEC added 4.5. The Ashare market will be closed from Thursday through Feb. 17, and resume trading on Feb. 18, 2021.
Chinas factory gate prices rose in annual terms in January for the first time in a year, as months of strong manufacturing growth pushed raw material costs higher. The producer price index rose 0.3 from a year earlier, the fastest pace of increase since May 2019.
Also helping sentiment, worries eased of an abrupt policy shift amid recent tight liquidity conditions, after the latest lending data.
Chinas new bank loans leapt to new highs in January, boosted by seasonal demand, while broad credit growth slowed, as the central bank walks a tightrope between supporting a recovering economy and rising debt risks.
We believe the equities market would benefit from the positive signal after expectationsbeating social financing data, analysts at Ping An Securities said in report, adding cyclical sectors and export firms would benefit from the outlook of a recovery both at home and abroad.
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