Chinese stocks end high led by infrastructure, utilities

China stocks managed closed firmer on Wednesday, aided by gains in shares of infrastructure and utility firms. The blue-chip CSI300 index ended 0.6 per cent higher at 3,118.25 points while the Shanghai Composite Index also gained 0.6 per cent to 2,561.61 points. Most sectors gained, led by infrastructure and utility firms. However, healthcare firms extended losses as investors fretted over potential fallout from a vaccine scandal at Changsheng Biotechnology, with the index tracking major healthcare firms shedding as much as 2.1 per cent to a 13-month low.

The unit of Changsheng Biotechnology, Changchun Changsheng Life Sciences Ltd, has been hit with penalties totalling 9.1 billion yuan ($1.31 billion) after it was embroiled in a scandal over falsifying data for a rabies vaccine. "From a long-term perspective, many stocks now are very cheap, though it's hard to say when the market will bottom out," said Yan Kaiwen, an analyst at China Fortune Securities. The stock connects program linking Hong Kong and the mainland is closed on Wednesday for a holiday in Hong Kong.

Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was firmer by 0.56 per cent while Japan's Nikkei index closed 1.29 per cent higher. At 07:01 GMT, the yuan was quoted at 6.9213 per U.S. dollar, 0.03 per cent weaker than the previous close of 6.9192. The largest percentage gainers in the main Shanghai Composite index were Cultural Investment Holdings Co Ltd, up 10.12 per cent, followed by Hna Innovation Co Ltd, up 10.11 per cent and Easy Visible Supply Chain Management Co Ltd, up 10.07 per cent. The largest percentage losers in the Shanghai index were Danhua Chemical Technology Co Ltd, down 10.07 per cent, followed by Jiangsu Provincial Agricultural Reclamation and Development Co Ltd, down 10.05 per cent and Orient International Enterprise Ltd, down 10.03 per cent.

So far this year, the Shanghai stock index is down 22.5 per cent and the CSI300 has fallen 22.6 per cent. Shanghai stocks have declined 9.21 per cent this month. About 13.00 billion shares were traded on the Shanghai exchange, roughly 109.3 per cent of the market's 30-day moving average of 11.89 billion shares a day. The volume in the previous trading session was 11.94 billion.

As of 07:02 GMT, China's A-shares were trading at a premium of 23.00 per cent over the Hong Kong-listed H-shares. The Shanghai stock index is below its 50-day and 200-day moving averages. The price-to-earnings ratio of the Shanghai index was 10.92 as of the last full trading day, while the dividend yield was 2.9 per cent. ($1 = 6.9217 Chinese yuan renminbi)