Financial stocks lead continued gains for mainland exchanges

Strong gains for financial stocks continued to lead the rise in stock exchanges in the Chinese mainland on Wednesday.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose for a fourth consecutive day, closing up by 1.31 percent or 39.50 points at 3,061.02 points on Wednesday.

The Shenzhen Component Index rose by 1.11 percent or 118.11 points to 10,786.72 points.

The CSI 300 index of the 300 biggest listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen rose by 1.73 percent to 3,360.60 points.

Total turnover on the two bourses was 908.66 billion yuan ($146.69 billion), up from the previous trading day's 792.87 billion yuan.

Banks saw the biggest gains on Wednesday, rising by 5.30 percent on average.

China Minsheng Banking Corp and China CITIC Bank Corporation soared by the daily limit of 10 percent to 9.47 yuan and 7.17 yuan, respectively.

The brokerage sector, which saw a rise of more than 9 percent in the previous trading session, also gained, with a 4.13 percent increase. CITIC Securities and Changjiang Securities jumped by the daily limit of 10 percent to 32.75 yuan and 18.49 yuan, respectively.

Aviation, ports and oil stocks also supported the rising trend on Wednesday while declines for aerospace, nonferrous, coal and pharmaceutical stocks weighed on the market.

Coal shares had risen in the previous trading day on expectations of a halt in price cuts, but they fell back on Wednesday.

Anyuan Coal Industry Group Co declined by 4.35 percent to 5.93 yuan.

The ChiNext Index, China's NASDAQ-style board for high-tech and fast-growing start-ups, inched down by 0.33 percent or 5.37 points to 1,644.21 points.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index fell by 0.37 percent or 84.66 points to 22,585.84 points on Wednesday, with total turnover of HK$107.78 billion ($13.90 billion).