Stocks extend rally on Shanghai, Shenzhen bourses

BEIJING - Equities extended their rally on Monday, with the blue-chip Shanghai index scaling a 31-month high, helped by gains in defense, consumer and healthcare firms as well as a boost from technology shares. The blue-chip CSI300 index rose 1.19 percent, while the financial sector sub-index was lower by 0.15 percent. The consumer staples sector rose 3.88 percent, the real estate index by 0.85 percent and healthcare sub-index by 1.77 percent.

The Shanghai Composite index was up 13.50 points or 0.39 percent at 3,501.36, with the largest percentage gainer Gome Telecom Equipment Co Ltd, reaching its highest since early 2016. The smaller Shenzhen index ended up 1.16 percent and the startup board ChiNext Composite index rose 2.32 percent.

Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index tacked on 0.1 percent while Japan's Nikkei index closed up 0.03 percent.

In the bond market, China's treasury bond futures closed higher on Monday, with the contract for settlement in March 2018 closing 0.20 percent higher at 95.80 yuan ($14.9); in June 0.11 percent higher at 95.90 yuan; and in September 0.09 percent higher at 96.40 yuan.

Chinese institutions have issued green bonds worth 551.143 billion yuan amid the country's green drive, the Xinhua News Agency-run Economic Information Daily reported. In 2017, China issued 185 green bonds raising a total of 277.28 billion yuan, up 122.9 percent and 32 percent, respectively, from 2016, said the report.

China has the world's largest green bond market. It accounted for nearly 40 percent of new green bonds in 2016, followed by the United States, France, and Germany, according to Moody's Investor Services, the bond credit ratings agency.