Chinese stocks were mixed on Tuesday with non-ferrous metals and real estate shares outperforming. Trade remained very heavy as new money continued to enter the market on hopes of an economic recovery.
The Shanghai Composite Index ended the morning up 0.07 percent at 2,226.204 points after moving in and out of positive territory, and touching a fresh four-month high of 2,250.226.
Turnover in Shanghai A shares was very large at 70.3 billion yuan ($10.3 billion), though it was down from Monday morning's huge 80.2 billion yuan. Losing Shanghai A shares outnumbered gainers by 541 to 368.
China's annual consumer price inflation slowed to a 30-month low of 1.0 percent in January from 1.2 percent in December, the government said. That was at the top of expectations but seen by some investors as moderately positive for the market.
The inflation rate was low enough to keep alive hopes for at least one more interest rate cut. But the drop of inflation was the smallest in nine months, which was in line with talk, originally sparked by data last week, that economic growth might be starting to bottom out.
"The index is still being buoyed by large amounts of money attracted by recovering investor confidence," said Chen Jinren, an analyst at Huatai Securities.
Jiangxi Copper rose 4.54 percent to 17.50 yuan, after jumping its 10 percent daily limit on the previous two days, as Shanghai copper prices continued to rise on optimism about the economy.
Real estate developers outperformed as some investors switched into them after they lagged the market's rally over the past week. Vanke gained 1.52 percent to 8.02 yuan.
($1 = 6.83 Yuan)
