Markets buoyed by gains for media, technology stocks

Stock markets in the Chinese mainland continued to rise on Wednesday, backed by gains in media and technology stocks.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose by 6.95 points or 0.33 percent to 2,105.24 points on Wednesday. The Shenzhen Component Index inched up by 2.60 points or 0.03 percent to 7,511.25 points.

Combined turnover on the two bourses on Wednesday was 189.94 billion yuan ($30.65 billion), down from Tuesday's 204.77 billion yuan.

Banks, brokerages and insurers had led the gains on the previous trading day, but they fell back on Wednesday, with pharmaceutical and medical companies, liquor makers, and media and technology firms rising instead.

The media and technology sectors were boosted by news of investment by Jack Ma Yun, chairman of Alibaba Group, China's largest e-commerce company in terms of revenue.

On Tuesday, Alibaba said in a statement posted on Weibo that it had agreed to buy a 20 percent state in Wasu Group for 6.5 billion yuan.

Shares in Wasu Group's listed arm Wasu Media Holding Co soared Wednesday by the daily limit of 10 percent to 28.09 yuan.

The culture and media sector rose by 4.38 percent.

Financial software firm Hundsun Technologies rose for a second consecutive day on Wednesday after news over the weekend that Ma had agreed to buy a 20 percent stake in it for 3.3 billion yuan.

The gain for Hundsun also boosted other companies linked to online finance on Wednesday. East Money Information Co rose by 2.77 percent to 19.32 yuan.

Rises in media and technology stocks contributed to strong performance on Wednesday by ChiNext, China's NASDAQ-style board for high-tech and fast-growing start-ups listed in Shenzhen. The index rose by 19.28 points or 1.43 percent to close at 1,370.46 points.