Mainland bourses rally as blockchain firms see big gains

Market sentiment continued to improve on Monday at the major bourses as a flurry of positive measures announced by the government helped dispel much of the gloom of the last few months.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index gained 2.58 percent on Monday to close at 3170.36, a new high so far this year. The Shenzhen Component Index climbed 3.64 percent to close at 10267.7, regaining the 10000 mark after 10 months of fluctuation.

The total trading volume on the Shanghai and Shenzhen bourses exceeded 1 trillion yuan ($149 billion) with about 183 stocks surging by their daily limit of 10 percent.

Companies specializing in blockchain technology led the market growth on Monday, clocking intraday gains of 6.75 percent, according to Shanghai-based market tracker Wind Info.

The Cyberspace Administration of China released on Saturday the first batch of 197 blockchain information services filing numbers, which include the blockchain projects of leading internet companies such as Alibaba and Tencent as well as those of leading domestic financial institutions.

Analysts from Sealand Securities said in a note on Monday that 2019 will mark the beginning of the commercialization of blockchain in China. The application of this technology will witness an outburst in sectors including finance, copyright protection and legal service certificates. Listed companies with expertise in self-developed blockchain platform technology service will benefit the most, according to the note.

The latest Purchasing Managers' Index, which the National Bureau of Statistics released on Sunday, came in at 50.5 in March, up from 49.2 in February. Analysts from Northeast Securities said that the major economic indicators, such as the PMI and the consumer confidence index, have risen noticeably. Meanwhile, the employment rate, consumer prices and the balance of payments remained stable in the first two months. Therefore, the confidence of the capital market has been consolidated and the long-term performance of the A-share market will continue to be positive.

Wind Info data showed that the Shanghai Composite Index and the Shenzhen Component Index surged 23.93 percent and 36.84 percent respectively during the first quarter of this year, outshining most of the other major indexes in the world. The S&P 500 Index in the United States climbed 12 percent in the first three months, Germany's DAX Index went up 10 percent and the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong rose 17 percent.

All the 28 industries monitored by Wind Info registered growth in the first quarter, with computer, agriculture, and food and beverages reporting the most significant increase. Of all the 3,600 listed companies, 70 saw their share prices rise by over 100 percent in the first quarter and another 556 companies' prices by over 50 percent.

Overseas investors have been showing consistent interest in A shares. Approximately 125.4 billion yuan worth of overseas capital has flown into the A-share market via the stock connect mechanism between the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong during the first three months, as calculated by Wind Info, which was twice the amount registered during the same period of 2018.