China Stocks End Flat, Some Shares Up on Fiscal Policy Support
China stocks were little changed on Wednesday, with falls in consumer and healthcare shares offset by gains in infrastructure and raw materials firms, as Beijing vowed to step up fiscal policy efforts to support the economy.
China's State Council, or cabinet, also said it would encourage policy banks to extend more credit and reaffirmed the government's commitment to reducing overcapacity, in a notice published late on Tuesday.
The CSI300 index fell 0.1 percent, to 3,340.82 points at the end of the morning session, while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.1 percent, to 3,092.41 points.
The infrastructure sector rose 0.7 percent while an index tracking raw material stocks gained 0.3 percent, as investors expect the government to approve more infrastructure projects, boosting demand for goods from cement to steel.
Environment-related stocks, including Zhejiang Weiming Environment Protection and Beijing Capital , also saw a robust rally amid a determined push by China's policymakers to combat pollution.
(Reporting by Samuel Shen and John Ruwitch; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)