Shanghai stocks fluctuated but ended higher yesterday with investors generally optimistic after the Mid-Autumn Festival, thanks to upbeat performance of overseas markets alongside domestic surveys that showed improving business confidence.
The Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.77 percent to 3,026.05 points with turnover at 133.2 billion yuan ($19.9 billion).
The People's Bank of China published surveys over the weekend, showing business confidence index among entrepreneurs in China had gained 2.2 percentage points from the previous quarter to 51.2 percent, rebounding for the second quarter in a row in 2016. Profitability index was also up 2 percentage points from three months earlier, standing at 54.7 percent.
Brokerage and financial shares were strong yesterday. Pacific Securities Co rose 1.74 percent to 7 yuan while Ping An Insurance (Group) Co advanced 1.95 percent to 34.97 yuan.
Zhu Bin, an analyst at Southwest Securities, said in a research note yesterday that market liquidity is still sufficient to support a rebound and the general upward trend is unlikely to change in the short term.
