China shares rise on central bank liquidity support

SHANGHAI, Nov 9 (Reuters): China shares rose on Friday, buoyed by strength in brokerages as investors regained confidence after the Chinese central bank pumped liquidity into the financial system to help the economy.
The Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.6 per cent to a 20-month high of 2,440.3 points by midday, while the CSI300 of the leading Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share listings gained 0.8 per cent, to touch its highest since early June last year.
For the week, the mainland indexes are set to climb 0.8 per cent and 0.7 per cent, respectively, which would mark a second straight week of gains.
The central bank said on Thursday that it had pumped 769.5 billion yuan ($125.8 billion) worth of three-month loans into banks via a "medium-term lending facility" (MLF) to keep interest rates low.
Analysts said the move by the central bank could help to boost stock investors' confidence as well.
"I've seen investors are confident to buy into those low-valuation heavyweight stocks," said Du Changchun, analyst at Northeast Securities in Shanghai, adding that strong performance by blue chips would provide key support for the index.