SHANGHAI: Mainland stocks advanced, driving the benchmark index to its highest in a month, after the government said it will extend support for the country's industries amid weak global demand.
Qingdao Haier Co and Jiangling Motors Corp paced gains among consumer-related companies after the State Council said it would maintain measures to boost car and home appliance sales in rural areas. China Merchants Bank Co led an advance by financial companies on speculation this year's losses were excessive relative to earnings prospects.
The Shanghai Composite Index added 38.44, or 1.3 percent, to close at 3,060.62, the highest since Jan 25. The gauge has dropped 6.6 percent so far this year. The CSI 300 Index gained 1.5 percent to 3,292.13.
"Boosting consumption is the government's key task this year and that investment theme will persist throughout the year," said Yan Ji, who helps oversee about $1.2 billion at HSBC Jintrust Fund Management Co in Shanghai. "Some big-cap stocks are bargains given they will see continuing earnings growth and economic fundamentals are still sound."
Haier, the air-conditioner and refrigerator unit of China's biggest appliance manufacturer, rose 2.5 percent to 21.93 yuan ($3.21).
Jiangling Motors, the Chinese commercial vehicle partner with Ford Motor Co, added 1.3 percent to 21.2 yuan.
Investors opened 191,451 accounts to trade stocks in the week ended Feb 12, the last trading week before the Spring Festival holiday, according to the China Securities and Depository Corp.
That's the fewest for a five-day week since the period ended Jan 23, 2009, which preceded last year's weeklong break.
Hang Seng falls
Hong Kong stocks fell, erasing the Hang Seng Index's earlier advance, as Moody's Investors service saying it may downgrade Greece's credit rating rekindled anxiety over sovereign credit.
"The concern is that the size of the bailout for Greece will be limited," said Tahnoon Pasha, regional head of equities at MFC Global Investment Management in Hong Kong, which oversees $30 billion. "It's reinforcing the ongoing process of taking risk off the table."
The Hang Seng Index slipped 0.3 percent to close at 20399.57. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index lost 0.9 percent to 11,388.50.
Bloomberg News
