Asia: China leads markets higher with late rally

Chinese shares led markets around the region upwards, as a late rally saw the Shanghai Composite rise by 5.35% to snap a five-day rout.

The smaller Shenzhen Composite was also up, by 3.58%, while the tech focused Chinext rose by 3.67%.

Deutsche Bank said Chinese markets appeared to be following the US higher with gains across the board.

Bloomberg reported China’s government had intervened to boost the stock market on Thursday, citing sources.

Sources said China wanted the market to stabilize ahead of a military parade celebrating World War II victory over Japan scheduled for 3 September.

One source was reported as saying the government intervened by buying up blue chip stocks.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was up 3.60% from two year low, while the Sensex rose by 1.89% and Singapore’s Straits Times Index rose by 2.47%.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 followed suit, rising by 1.07% as soy sauce maker Kikkoman led risers, gaining by 6.07%. The yen was at ¥ 120.30 to the dollar.

Down under, Australia enjoyed another day of gains as miner Paladin and energy company Senex led shares higher. The index closed 1.2% higher as big banks continued to rebound.

New Zealand joined the global rebound as dairy marketer A2 Milk Co, Auckland International Airport and Metro Performance Glass recovered from recent losses. The NZX 50 rose by 1% as telco Spark advanced 3.4%.