Shares maintain rising trend, amid PBOC injection of liquidity

Stock markets in the Chinese mainland maintained the previous trading day's strong gains amid robust turnover on Wednesday.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose by 35.16 points or 1.50 percent to 2,373.03 points on Wednesday. The Shenzhen Component Index gained by 102.34 points or 1.28 percent to 8,090.68 points.

Combined turnover on the two bourses on Wednesday was 457.25 billion yuan ($74.77 billion), up from Tuesday's 333.33 billion yuan.

Investors were cheered by the news that the People's Bank of China, the central bank, had injected liquidity into the market via its mid-term lending facility (MLF) in October. It was the first time the central bank has used the MLF, and analysts saw it as an effort to boost liquidity with more diversified liquidity management tools.

Shares linked to transportation, logistics and finance led the gains in the markets on Wednesday. China Eastern Airlines Corp jumped by the daily limit of 10 percent to 3.45 yuan and Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport climbed by 7.26 percent to 9.01 yuan.

High-speed railway-related stocks gained strongly against the backdrop of news earlier this week of a merger by two State-owned train makers, China CNR and CSR Corp. Analysts say the merger will create a globally competitive company and strengthen the Chinese high-speed railway industry. China Railway Group rose by 7.30 percent to 3.82 yuan.

Brokerage firms and insurers also saw gains of more than 2 percent on average on Wednesday. Soochow Securities Co moved 7.69 percent higher to 11.63 yuan and Everbright Securities Co rose by 5.59 percent to 10.76 yuan.

ChiNext, China's NASDAQ-style board for high-tech and fast-growing start-ups listed in Shenzhen, rose for a third consecutive day, gaining by 8.03 points or 0.53 percent to 1,530.08 points on Wednesday.