China’s Stocks Rise, Posting Weekly Gain; Machine Makers Climb

By Zhang Shidong

Jan. 16 (Bloomberg) -- China’s stocks advanced, sending the benchmark index higher for a second week, on speculation the government will speed up support for industrial manufacturers and brokerages to revive earnings and counter an economic slowdown.

Changsha Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science & Technology Development Co., the nation’s second-biggest maker of concrete- handling machinery, climbed 4.3 percent. Guangxi Liugong Machinery Co., the maker of construction equipment, advanced 1.6 percent. Citic Securities Co. and Haitong Securities Co., the country’s top two brokerages, gained more than 4 percent.

The CSI 300 Index jumped 35.34, or 1.8 percent, to 1,990.21 at the close, outperforming other Asian indexes and extending its weekly gain to 4.7 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index, which tracks the bigger of China’s two stock exchanges, added 1.8 percent to 1,954.44.

“Investors are getting more optimistic with more stimulus plans for different industries in the pipeline,” said Xu Lirong, a fund manager at Franklin Templeton Sealand Fund Management in Shanghai, which oversees the equivalent of $2.56 billion. “Liquidity is improving and moving to equities.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Zhang Shidong in Shanghai at szhang5@bloomberg.net