By Chao Deng
Shanghai stocks have gained 30% this year
China shares rose Friday as continued bargain hunting for large
caps pushed up Shanghai, while Australia fell, tracking losses in
the U.S.
The Shanghai Composite Index jumped 2.2% to 4,287.66 and the
Hang Seng Index rose 0.3% to 27,833.15.
The Shanghai index is headed for a more than 6% gain this week
as local investors change strategy from mainly buying smaller
stocks this year. Shenzhen's ChiNext Price Index , which features
small caps and startups, is in line for a 2.5% loss this week.
As of Thursday, the Shanghai Composite had gained 30% this year,
while the ChiNext's was up 68%.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index is on track for a 2.4% gain this
week after rising nearly 8% last week as mainland investors bought
stocks. Vincent Chan, equity strategy at Credit Suisse, said
investors in Hong Kong remain excited about the potential for
mainland investment flows.
Credit Suisse (CS) (CSGKF) estimates that mainland mutual funds
could gradually invest up to 184 billion yuan ($29.8 billion) in
Hong Kong once they are set up to use a trading link to access the
market via Shanghai. The allocation would be equivalent to roughly
equivalent to two days of the city's market turnover. Analysts say
it will take a few months before mainland mutual funds can trade
through the Shanghai Hong Kong Stock Connect.
Australia's S&P ASX 200 was down 1% at 5,884.40 after U.S.
stocks stalled Thursday
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stocks-futures-waver-with-goldman-earnings-fed-speakers-in-focus-2015-04-16)
ahead of what is expected to have been a difficult first quarter
earnings season.
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