China stocks end higher on abundant liquidity; EV, healthcare shares shine

China stocks closed higher on Wednesday, with electric vehicle and healthcare shares leading the gains, as the central bank kept liquidity abundant to support economic recovery from the COVID-19. ** The Shanghai Composite index ended 0.47% higher at 3,583.09 while the blue-chip CSI300 index added 0.72%.

China stocks closed higher on Wednesday, with electric vehicle and healthcare shares leading the gains, as the central bank kept liquidity abundant to support economic recovery from the COVID-19.

** The Shanghai Composite index ended 0.47% higher at 3,583.09 while the blue-chip CSI300 index added 0.72%. ** The new-energy vehicle sector sub-index rose 4.6%, while the healthcare sub-index was up 3.57%. ** The Shenzhen index ended up 1.36% and the start-up board ChiNext Composite index was higher by 3.905%.

** China's central bank injected a net 278 billion yuan on the day via reverse repo operations, according to Reuters calculation. ** Chinese mom-and-pop investors are stampeding into the stock market for fear of missing out on the bull run, with more than 1.6 million share trading accounts newly opened in December, doubling from a year earlier, latest data shows.

** Meanwhile, Beijing's municipal government stepped up COVID-19 measures after reporting the biggest daily jump in new cases in more than three weeks. ** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was firmer by 2.03%, while Japan's Nikkei index closed down 0.38%. ** At 0704 GMT, the yuan was quoted at 6.4656 per U.S. dollar, 0.22% firmer than the previous close of 6.48.