BEIJING: China’s stocks headed for their biggest weekly gain in three months after Ping an Insurance (Group) Co. reported a jump in profit and speculation grew the government will take measures to support the property market.
Ping Insurance, China’s second-biggest insurer, rallied 3.1 percent after saying annual profit rose 40 percent and it plans to pay dividends and bonus shares. China Vanke Co. and Poly Real Estate Group Co. led an advance for developers after the China Securities Journal said the government is preparing policies to stabilize the housing market. PetroChina Co. slid 0.8 percent to drag down a gauge of energy shares.
The Shanghai Composite Index swung between gains and losses on Friday, rising 0.1 percent to 3,585.56 at 9:50 a.m. local time. The measure has climbed 6.2 percent this week, set for the biggest advance since Dec. 5, after Premier Li Keqiang pledged to take action if economic growth slows too much and funds locked up for new share sales returned.
The CSI 300 Index dropped 0.2 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng China Enterprises Index advanced 0.2 percent. The Hang Seng Index slipped 0.1 percent. The Bloomberg China-US Equity Index, the measure of the most-traded U.S.-listed Chinese companies, added 0.8 percent in New York on Thursday.
The Shanghai Composite is valued at 13.5 times 12-month projected earnings, compared with the five-year average multiple of 10.2, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
