BEIJING: Chinese stocks rose for a seventh day, paced by health-care companies and developers, in the last trading session before the week-long Lunar New Year holidays.
Harbin Pharmaceutical Group Co. rallied 8.3 percent as a gauge of health-care companies jumped the most among 10 industry groups in the CSI 300 Index. Poly Real Estate Group Co. added 1.3 percent after the nation’s new home prices for January fell in 64 cities, versus 65 in December. China United Network Communications Ltd. gained 5.4 percent after surging by the 10 percent daily limit on Monday, while Citic Securities Co. and Haitong Securities Co. led financial firms higher.
The Shanghai Composite Index climbed 0.6 percent at 9:56 a.m. local time, on volume 24 percent below the 30-day average for this time of day. The gauge has gained 51 percent during the past 12 months, the most among major benchmark indexes tracked by Bloomberg amid speculation that monetary stimulus will revive growth in the world’s second-largest economy.
“Many people have already left for the holidays and trading will be very light,” said Yen Chiu, a Hong Kong-based trader at Shenyin Wanguo Securities. “The market may hover around the current level for the day.”
