Stocks rally on bank chief's caution

The mainland stock market rallied on Friday after central bank Governor Zhou Xiaochuan said the bank will maintain a prudent monetary policy but adjust liquidity in the market appropriately.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose by 1.5 percent to close at 1,979.21 points. Turnover was 77.5 billion yuan ($12.6 billion), down from 84.3 billion yuan on Thursday.

Sectors including banking, brokerages and property led the rally.