** China's blue-chip CSI300 index added 1.14%, while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 1.81%. During early trade, it briefly rose above the 3,400 level — the highest in 10 months and biggest one-day percentage gain in over two months.
** Hong Kong benchmark Hang Seng Index was up 1.24%,
and the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index rose 1.47%.
** "Chinese banks and insurance stocks bolstered the
Shanghai blue-chip index, as investors are pinning on hopes that
China's consumption recovery would benefit banks' profit this
year," said Kenny Ng, a strategist at China Everbright
Securities International.
** Shanghai-listed state-owned banks such as Industrial and
Commercial Bank of China and Agricultural Bank of
China were up 6.21% and 7.46%, respectively.
** The strong performance came after mid-sized lenders China
Bohai Bank, China Zheshang Bank and Hengfeng Bank on Friday
reduced interest rates on some deposits by 10 basis points (bps)
and 30 bps, following smaller peers.
** State-owned financial stocks account for 15%-20% of the
Shanghai Composite and CSI300 index weighting and nearly half of
A-share earnings, according to a Bank of America report
published last week.
** Household consumption per capita rose 5.4% in Q1,
compared with a year earlier, up from 2.4% year-on-year increase
in Q4, according to a Goldman Sachs report. The increase was led
by a strong services consumption rebound.
** In Hong Kong, HSBC shares rose 1.8%, the highest
in two months. Last Friday, it defeated a proposal backed by its
biggest Asian shareholder Ping An to break up the bank and spin
out its lucrative Asian business at its annual investor meeting
in Birmingham in England.
** Insurer AIA also contributed to the Hang Seng's
gain, up 3%.
** The Hang Seng Mainland Oil & Gas Index rose
4.98%. China Petroleum & Chemical Corp surged 5.91%, a
four-year high.
(Reporting by Hong Kong Newsroom; editing by Uttaresh
Venkateshwaran and Sohini Goswami)
