China stocks close higher on tech-fueled rebound

SHANGHAI - Chinese stocks added to early gains on Monday to end higher as investors looked for opportunities on the back of last Friday's losses.

The blue-chip CSI300 Index edged higher by 1.3 percent to 3,694.68, while the Shanghai Composite Index increased by 0.9 percent to 3,237.36 points.

Gains were led by high-tech, consumer and healthcare firms that had been hit by losses at the end of last week.

"The market has been in a rising period led by cyclical shares," said Huang Xiaobin, an analyst at Huaitai Securities in Shenzhen.

"In previous sessions, the enterprise board fell relatively steeply, so the opportunity for a rebound is very clear," Huang added.

Investors appeared unperturbed by data on Monday that showed China's factory output had slowed last month, along with investment and retail sales.

But economists quickly ruled out an economic hard landing. They pointed out that weakening economic indicators in July are only short-term fluctuations.

Overall, the trend is for stable growth in the second half of this year. The markets were certainly bullish with smartphone display company BOE Technology Group Co Ltd gaining 3.0 percent.

It was the most traded component of the CSI300 Index by volume.

But voice recognition software maker iFlytek Co Ltd gained the daily limit of 10 per-cent. Last week, the company reported that first-half revenue surged 43.79 percent year-on-year to more than 2.1 billion yuan ($315 million).

"As the company turns its technology into products, it will go on to greater achievements (of) economic scale growth," Southwest Securities analysts Xiong Li and Chang Xiaoya wrote about iFlytek in a note.

The tech-heavy ChiNext board gained 2.9 percent.

Liquor manufacturers also saw their share prices raise. Kweichow Moutai regained ground lost on Friday to jump 3.3 percent to a record-high close of 499.83 yuan.

China CSI300 Index futures for August rose 1.1 percent, to 3,681.4, 12.69 points below the current value of the underlying index.

Reuters - China Daily