CSI Index continues upward march

Investors line up to open accounts at a brokerage in Qingdao, Shandong province, on Monday. Shares of brokerages and the nation's biggest companies rose on speculation the market's world-beating rally has further to run. YU FANGPING/CHINA DAILY

The CSI 300 Index rose for a 12th day on Monday, the longest stretch of gains on record, as investors snapped up shares of brokerages and the nation's biggest companies on speculation the market's world-beating rally has further to run.

CITIC Securities Co and Haitong Securities Co, the top biggest securities firms, jumped by the 10 percent daily limit, adding to rallies of at least 75 percent over the past month. Ping An Insurance (Group) Co surged 6.7 percent. PetroChina Co surged 4 percent to a two-year high.

The CSI 300, tracking the largest companies on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges, rose to 3,252.88 points, extending its rally to 25 percent during the 12-day advance.

"The trend is for stocks to rise," said Zeng Xianzhao, an analyst at Everbright Securities Co. "There's still room for gains and enough liquidity in the market for stocks to push forward."

The CSI 300 jumped 11 percent last week, while the Shanghai index climbed 9.5 percent, the most since 2009, amid speculation that the government will ease monetary policy to support economic growth.

Data released on Monday showed China's exports climbing 4.7 percent in November, trailing the estimate for an 8 percent gain. Imports fell 6.7 percent, compared with the forecast for a 3.8 percent advance.

The Shanghai Composite's 24 percent rally over the past month, the most among 93 global indexes tracked by Bloomberg, is spurring investors to open share accounts at the fastest pace in three years and boosting turnover to record highs.

The value of shares that changed hands on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges surged above 1 trillion yuan ($163 billion) for the first time on Friday.

Brokerages' valuations have surged to their highest level in more than four years as Shanghai's surging stock market improves the prospects for trading revenue. The Bloomberg Intelligence China A-Share Institutional Brokerage index, which tracks CITIC Securities and 21 of its peers, climbed 55 percent in the two weeks ended on Dec 5, pushing its valuation to 4.3 times its book value. That is the highest level since May 2010.

The stock surge also spurred the nation's securities regulator to caution investors about the risks of investing. Illegal activities including stock manipulation have recently been "raising their head" and investors should invest rationally, Deng Ge, a spokesman for the CSRC, said in a statement on Friday on the agency's website.

"They are trying to warn people from getting too far into buying into sentiment," Paul Christopher, the chief international investment strategist at Wells Fargo Advisors LLC, which oversees $1.4 trillion, said by phone on Friday.