China blue-chip shares extend rally as new leadership line-up unveiled

Shanghai: China blue-chips extended gains on Wednesday to 26-month highs, underpinned by robust profits from tech firms and as the ruling Communist Party revealed its new leadership line-up.
The blue-chip CSI300 index rose 0.5 per cent, to 3,976.95 points, while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.3 per cent to 3,396.90 points.
During the midday trading break, the Communist Party unveiled its core decision-making body, the Politburo Standing Committee, headed by President Xi Jinping.
HSBC's Greater China Economist Julia Wang expects co-ordinated policies to reduce financial risks, more institutionalised environment policies, and accelerated state-owned enterprise (SOE) reforms following the week-long congress.
An index tracking environmental protection shares rose 0.9 percent, as investors bet they will benefit from Xi's vision of a "beautiful China."
Indexes tracking SOEs, were also firm.
Sector performance was mixed.
Gains were led by developers and healthcare stocks, while other sectors were little changed in thin trading activity.
BOE Technology surged 9.6 per cent to a 28-month high, after the display device maker reported rocketing profits for the first nine months of the year.
The stock has nearly doubled this year, among blue-chips that have seen their share prices far outperform the broader market, as the country's investors attach more importance to firms with solid fundamentals and reasonable valuations.
Trading was mostly calm during the Party Congress, as regulators vowed to maintain market stability, however, the meeting's conclusions has prompted some investor concerns about the market coming under pressure as volumes pick up.
"Trading has been thin lately, and volatility has been low. There is risk of a correction, now that the congress has ended," said Hu Yuanzhi, fund manager at Shanghai-based asset manager Rationalstone Investment.