BEIJING: Chinese stocks rose for the first time in three days in volatile trading as smaller companies advanced and almost a quarter of the market remained suspended.
The Shanghai Composite Index climbed 0.5 percent to 3,823.18 at the close, erasing a loss of as much as 3.1 percent. A gauge of 100-day price swings jumped to the highest level since March 2009. The CSI 500 Index of small-company shares climbed 2.3 percent. A total of 673 stocks were halted on mainland exchanges, or about 23 percent of all listings.
Volatility is increasing as hundreds of companies resume trading and the government maintains measures to support the stock market after an almost $4 trillion rout. While the nation’s gross domestic product grew faster than expected in the second quarter, it was underpinned by a surge in financial-sector growth that may not be sustainable with stocks faltering.
“A lot of domestic investors are still in a gambling mode,” said Yen Chiu, a Hong Kong-based trader at Shenwan Hongyuan Group Co. “That’s how the market is very volatile. We are quite conservative at the moment and the shrinking volume confirms trading is becoming more cautious overall.”
