SHANGHAI, June 28 (Reuters) - Technology stocks helped China’s blue-chip index gain on Monday as investors hoped for continued policy support, while the Shanghai Composite index was pressured by a fall in financial firms.
** The CSI300 index rose 0.1% to 5,246.82 points at the end of the morning session, while the Shanghai Composite index lost 0.1% at 3,605.58 points.
** Heavyweight financial firms fell, with the CSI300 financials index down 1.5% by midday break and on track to snap a four-day rising streak.
** Helping the market, the CSI new energy and CSI consumer discretionary index rose 2% and 1.3%, respectively.
** Top battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) Co Ltd climbed 5.1% to a new high.
** Tech stocks outperformed on Monday. Shenzhen’s tech-heavy start-up board rose 2.1%, and Shanghai’s tech-focused STAR50 index climbed 2.2%.
** Beijing will not change or could even step up its support for the country’s tech sector, which is the biggest good news for related shares in the A-share market, said Orient Securities in a report.
** The brokerage added seven emerging industries, including new energy vehicles, remain the most important directions for long-term investors.
** Data over the weekend showed profit growth at China’s industrial firms slowed again in May as surging raw material prices squeezed margins and weighed on factory activity.
** Profits at China’s industrial firms rose 36.4% in May from a year earlier to 829.92 billion yuan ($128.58 billion), official data showed on Sunday. That was a slowdown from the 57% surge reported in April, according to National Bureau of Statistics.
** Trading in Hong Kong’s securities market was cancelled in morning session, and will resume at 0530 GMT on Monday after the cancellation of a black rainstorm warning.
Reporting by Luoyan Liu and Andrew Galbraith; Editing by Amy Caren Daniel
Source: Reuters