Mainland stock exchanges boosted by liquidity release

Stock markets in the Chinese mainland ended the week with a strong gain on Friday.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose for a fourth straight day, closing up by 29.10 points or 1.22 percent at 2,420.18 points on Friday. The index jumped by 5.15 percent from the previous Friday, October 24, and was up by 2.38 percent in October.

The Shenzhen Component Index rose by 135.06 points or 1.67 percent to 8,225.61 points, with a weekly gain of 3.84 percent. The Shenzhen index rose by 1.8 percent month-on-month.

Combined turnover on the two bourses on Friday was 458.72 billion yuan ($75.04 billion), up from Thursday's 437.26 billion yuan.

Market sentiment improved last week amid an easing in pressure on liquidity. Funds had been tighter in previous weeks due to cash being locked up for new IPOs.

Financial stocks were particularly strong on Friday. Banks gained by more than 3.5 percent and insurers and brokerage firms rose more than 2.5 percent.

Bank of Nanjing Co jumped by 9.49 percent to 10.73 yuan and Huatai Securities advanced 7.38 percent to 10.47 yuan on Friday.

Coal, steel and home appliance sectors closed up by more than 2 percent on average on Friday.

Meanwhile, stocks linked to high-speed railways - which had seen a strong gain amid high hopes for the expected merger of State-owned train makers China CNR and CSR Corp - fell back on profit-taking. China Railway Construction Corp declined by 3.44 percent to 6.45 yuan and China Railway Group fell by 1.43 percent to 4.14 yuan.

ChiNext, China's NASDAQ-style board for high-tech and fast-growing start-ups listed in Shenzhen, declined for a second consecutive day, closing down by 12.50 points or 0.82 percent at 1,513.27 points. The index ended the week with a gain of 2.41 percent from the previous Friday, backed by gains in the first three days of the week but saw a monthly loss of 1.79 percent.