Chinese stocks rise on upbeat economic data at week start

The Chinese stock market kicked off the week on a positive note, with both the Shanghai Composite and the Shenzhen Composite closing higher.

The Shanghai Composite rose by 1.19%, while the Shenzhen Composite surged by 2.38% to reach 1,789.25 points.

Optimistic economic indicators from the world’s second-largest economy drove this uptick.

Thus, the Caixin China General Manufacturing PMI for March increased to 51.1 from the previous month’s 50.9, slightly surpassing market expectations of 51 points.

This marks the 5th consecutive month of growth in factory activity, hitting its fastest pace since February last year. These encouraging figures signal that China is on track to economic recovery and could help the market continue its rebound.

Reacting to this, technology and consumer-related stocks led the market’s rise. Among the key players in the Chinese Benchmark, Industrial Bank Co Ltd. made its contribution to the market gains, with its shares rebounding by 0.32% from its previous session’s sell-off. Other major stocks saw strong performances on Monday while attention could turn to the earnings results of Kweichow Moutai this week.