INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
China stocks rose on Friday to end the four-session week higher, as investors cheered signs of progress in the ongoing US-China trade
talks.
The blue-chip CSI300 index rose 1.0 per cent, to 3,911.73, while the Shanghai Composite Index closed up 0.9 per cent at 2,973.66.
For
the week, CSI300 gained 2.5 per cent, while SSEC was up 2.4 per cent.
US and Chinese negotiators on Thursday wrapped up a first day of trade
talks in more than two months as business groups expressed optimism the two sides might be able to ease a 15-month trade war and delay a US
tariff hike scheduled for next week.
US President Donald Trump said "we had a very, very good negotiation with China", while a White House
official said the talks had gone "probably better than expected".
Sectors rallied across the board on Friday, with financials and energy
firms leading the gains.
The market rally is ongoing given low valuations overall, though any further upward trend would depend a lot on the
rolling out of more-than-expected easing policies by domestic and overseas countries, Huachuang Securities wrote in report.
MSCI's Asia
ex-Japan stock index was firmer by 1.29 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei index closed up 1.15 per cent.
At 07:17 GMT, the yuan was quoted at
7.1052 per US dollar, 0.14 per cent firmer than the previous close of 7.115.
The largest percentage gainers in the main Shanghai Composite
index were Xinjiang Youhao Group Co Ltd, up 10.07 per cent, followed by China Hi-Tech Group Co Ltd, up 10.06 per cent and HY Energy Group Co
Ltd up 10.03 per cent.
The largest percentage losses in the Shanghai index were Panda Financial Holding Corp Ltd down 9.96 per cent, Fujian
Raynen Technology Co Ltd down 7.85 per cent and Zhe Jiang Taihua New Material Co Ltd down 7.68 per cent.
As of 07:18 GMT, China's A-shares
were trading at a premium of 29.55 per cent over the Hong Kong-listed H-shares