Mainland stocks rise on manufacturing data

Stock markets in the Chinese mainland rallied on Thursday amid upbeat manufacturing data.

The Shanghai Composite Index jumped by 1.28 percent or 26.57 points to 2,105.06 points on Thursday. The Shenzhen Component Index rose by 1.74 percent or 128.09 points to 7,503.40 points.

The combined turnover on the two bourses on Thursday was 258.17 billion yuan ($41.69 billion), up from Tuesday's 228.73 billion yuan.

HSBC/Markit preliminary purchasing managers index (PMI) of manufacturing activity for July rose to an 18-month high of 52.0 from a final reading of 50.7 in June, according to HSBC on Thursday. A number above the 50 level represents expansion of the manufacturing sector.

The upbeat gauge boosted shares in the finance, coal and real estate companies on Thursday.

All shares of the listed companies in the banking, brokerage and insurance sectors made gains. Shares in Changjiang Securities Co soared by the daily limit of 10 percent to 5.03 yuan and CITIC Securities Co surged by 3.22 percent to 12.51 yuan on Thursday.

Industrial Bank Co rose by 5.46 percent to 10.24 yuan and Ping An Bank Co advanced 4.10 percent to 10.16 yuan,

Three stocks in the coal sector - Wintime Energy Co, Sundiro Holding Co and Shanxi Meijin Energy Co - jumped by the daily limit of 10 percent on Thursday.

The property sector was also lifted following the media reports on Wednesday that more local governments eased housing purchasing restriction for the commercial residence. Poly Real Estate Group Co jumped by 7.60 percent to 6.23 yuan and Beijing Capital Development Co gained by 7.09 percent to 5.44 yuan.

ChiNext, China's NASDAQ-style board for high-tech and start-ups listed in Shenzhen, continued to decline on Thursday, dropping by 1.64 percent or 21.22 points to 1,271.88 points.