SHANGHAI, Feb 10 (Reuters) - China stocks ended higher in the last trading session before the Lunar New Year holiday, with blue-chip stocks scaling an over 13-year high on Wednesday as strong inflation data underscored a recovery in the world's second-largest economy.
The blue-chip CSI300 index rose 2.1% to 5,807.72, the highest since Oct. 17, 2007, while the Shanghai Composite Index added 1.4% to 3,655.09.
For the holiday-shortened week, CSI300 climbed 5.9%, while SSEC added 4.5%. The A-share market will be closed from Thursday through Feb. 17, and resume trading on Feb. 18, 2021.
China's factory gate prices rose in annual terms in January for the first time in a year, as months of strong manufacturing growth pushed raw material costs higher. The producer price index rose 0.3% from a year earlier, the fastest pace of increase since May 2019.
Also helping sentiment, worries eased of an abrupt policy shift amid recent tight liquidity conditions, after the latest lending data.
China's new bank loans leapt to new highs in January, boosted by seasonal demand, while broad credit growth slowed, as the central bank walks a tightrope between supporting a recovering economy and rising debt risks.
"We believe the equities market would benefit from the positive signal after expectations-beating social financing data," analysts at Ping An Securities said in report, adding cyclical sectors and export firms would benefit from the outlook of a recovery both at home and abroad.
Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was firmer by 0.57%, while Japan's Nikkei index closed up 0.19%.
At 0710 GMT, the yuan was quoted at 6.4375 per U.S. dollar, 0.05% weaker than the previous close of 6.4342.
As of 0711 GMT, China's A-shares were trading at a premium of 37.23% over the Hong Kong-listed H-shares.
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