China stocks rise as cash crunch eases

BEIJING -- Chinese stocks continued to climb Friday after a steep advance made Thursday on news of a record weekly liquidity injection from the nation's central bank.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.45 percent, or 29.85 points, to finish at 2,086.17. The Shenzhen Component Index closed at 8,679.22, up 192.94 points, or 2.27 percent.

Aggregated turnover expanded to 122.63 billion yuan ($19.34 billion) from 115.34 billion yuan the previous trading day.

Most stocks rose, with gainers outnumbering losers by 921 to 45 in Shanghai and by 1,445 to 72 in Shenzhen.

The People's Bank of China pumped a record 470 billion yuan into money markets via reverse repurchase agreements (repos) this week in an effort to ease a short-term cash crunch toward the quarter's end.

The move resulted in a net injection of 365 billion yuan into markets this week, offset by 107 billion yuan in maturing reserve repos, which draw liquidity.

Non-ferrous metal producers led the gains, with the Zhongjin Gold Corp, a leading gold producer, surging 5.08 percent to 18.19 yuan per share. Shares of Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel Rare-Earth (Group) High-Tech Co, the nation's largest rare earth producer, added 3.19 percent to 34 yuan.

The banking sector also climbed. The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the nation's largest lender by market value, edged up 0.54 percent to 3.75 yuan, while Bank of China rose 1.5 percent to 2.7 yuan.