BEIJING: Chinese stocks rose, sending the benchmark index to the highest level in two months, after economic data showed faster growth in the services sector and margin debt posted its longest stretch of gains since August.
The Shanghai Composite Index added 1.1 percent to 3,425.33, the highest close since Aug. 21. The ChiNext Composite Index, whose 484 stocks represent the most dynamic parts of the economy such as technology and biotech, advanced 2.9 percent to 2,787.16 in Shenzhen. Siasun Robot & Automation Co. climbed 4.6 percent. Hundsun Technologies Inc., which runs a financial investment trading platform knowns as HOMS, surged 10 percent.
The ChiNext has rallied 76 percent this year, compared with a 5.9 percent gain for the large-cap Shanghai index, as President Xi Jinping’s government boosts spending in the technology industry in an effort to offset a faltering industrial sector. The pace of growth in services quickened to 8.4 percent in the first nine months of the year, while so-called secondary industry — which includes manufacturing — weakened to a 6 percent expansion.
“From an increase in margin trading, some retail investors are flocking back to the market,” said Zhao Bingtong, a trader at Guosen Securities Co. in Shenzhen.
