Benchmark Shanghai index up for 10th day in 'spring rally'

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The Shanghai Composite Index rose Thursday to the highest level since Nov. 22, 2017, lodging the longest consecutive gain since March 2015, when the country's stock market was in a strong bullish cycle.

Although the index mostly fluctuated under the previous closing, it still closed 0.1 percent higher at 3,425.34 points, extending consecutive rises since Dec. 27.

The Shenzhen Component Index closed 0.24 percent higher at 11,464.2 points. It has been on a constant rising trend in the past 10 trading days, except for a slight decline of 0.09 percent on Wednesday.

Combined turnover on the two bourses stood at 477 billion yuan (about 73 billion US dollars), down from around 516 billion yuan the previous day.

Analysts call the strong performance at the beginning of the year a "spring rally."

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"Spring rallies are mainly driven by sparse data available on Q1 economic fundamentals, usually lower interest rates and relatively high risk preference at the start of the year," Haitong Securities said.

Haitong said the weak performance in November and December 2017 was mainly due to "capital disturbance," and the recent rally came with a higher liquidity level in the market.

Spring rallies often start between late January and early February and last five to nine weeks, Huachuang Securities said, citing data since 2010.

In 2017, the spring rally was between Jan. 17 and March 24, which saw the benchmark Shanghai index up 5.35 percent, Huachuang said.

After rising for 10 straight days, the index has risen 4.57 percent.

Analysts said as more capital was attracted by the constant rises, the spring rally will most likely continue.

The ChiNext Index, tracking China's NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, closed 0.73 percent higher at 1,804.23 points.

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency