China stocks continue rally

Financial services companies led Chinese stocks to a new seven-month high on Thursday as the Shanghai Composite Index (SCI) closed up 0.7% at 2,425.29 points, Bloomberg reported. China Construction Bank rose 1.6%, China Merchants Bank gained 2% and Ping An Insurance was up 2% after CITIC Securities predicted a rebound in the financial services companies’ second-quarter earnings. The SCI is up 33% so far this year, the second-best performer of the 88 key stock gauges tracked by Bloomberg globally, on the back of optimism created by the government’s stimulus plan. Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rallied 7.4% to close at 14,521.97, erasing its losses for the year so far. HSBC led the way, surging 15% on the back of better-than-expected economic reports in the US. Mainland property developer China Resources Land gained 14% in response to news of a recent uptick in housing sales.