Mainland markets boosted by finance, infrastructure gains

Mainland exchanges gained strongly on Thursday, backed by strong performance by financial and infrastructure stocks.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index jumped by 3.54 percent or 114.02 points to 3,336.46 points on Thursday. The Shenzhen Component Index rose by 2.19 percent or 245.90 points to 11,483.68 points.

The CSI 300 Index of the biggest companies traded on the bourses in Shanghai and Shenzhen closed up 2.90 percent at 3,604.12 points.

Total turnover on the two bourses was 527.66 billion yuan ($85.23 billion), up from Wednesday's 453.15 billion yuan.

The markets were lifted Thursday by gains for financial and infrastructure stocks.

All four listed insurers rose, with China Life Insurance Co and New China Life Insurance soaring by the daily limit of 10 percent to 36.19 yuan and 49.85 yuan, respectively.

Banks gained more than 4 percent on average. Bank of China led the increase with a 6.10 percent rise to 4.87 yuan.

Infrastructure-linked stocks gained strongly, partly due to media reports saying investment in transportation by 12 provincial-level regions in western China will reach 600 billion yuan in 2015.

Railway firms also got a boost, following media reports on Tuesday saying that China Railway Construction Corp (CRCC) was poised to win a new $3.75 billion contract to build a high-speed train system in Mexico. The Mexican government had annulled the original bid in November 2014.

CRCC jumped by 5.38 percent to 14.69 yuan.

The ChiNext Index, China's NASDAQ-style board for high-tech and fast-growing start-ups, inched down by 0.11 percent or 1.67 points to 1,586.34 points on Thursday.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index rose by 0.99 percent to 24,350.91 points, with total turnover of HK$93.11 billion ($11.99 billion).