Stock markets keep rising despite IT, finance fallback

Stock markets in the Chinese mainland closed up on Thursday after falling more than 0.5 percent earlier in the trading session.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose by 6.58 points or 0.28 percent to 2,389.37 points on Thursday, rising for the fifth consecutive trading day. The Shenzhen Component Index nudged up by 20.36 points or 0.25 percent to 8,204.01 points on Thursday, gaining for two straight days.

Combined turnover on the two bourses on Thursday was 450.18 billion yuan ($73.42 billion), up from the previous trading day's 390.5 billion yuan.

Investors continued to remain upbeat after the weeklong National Day holidays, which ended on Tuesday. Stocks linked to nonferrous metals, autos and real estate firms led Thursday's gains.

Meanwhile, poor performance for IT and brokerage firms and banks weighed on the markets on Thursday.

Founder Technology Group Corp fell by 2.71 percent to 5.02 yuan and Ping An Bank Co dropped by 0.58 percent to 10.20 yuan.

Five companies went public Thursday, including Shanghai-listed Lanzhou LS Heavy Equipment Co and Shenzhen-listed Dianguang Explosion-proof Technology Co. All of them hit the upward limit for new stocks of 44 percent.

ChiNext, China's NASDAQ-style board for high-tech and fast-growing start-ups listed in Shenzhen, rose by 3.60 points or 0.23 percent to 1,561.17 points on Thursday.