Leo Zhang/Shanghai Daily news

Shanghai shares gained yesterday after China assigned quotas to two foreign institutions to invest in local-currency shares, boosting optimism of a constant funds supply next year.
The Shanghai Composite Index, which covers both yuan-denominated A shares and hard-currency B shares, added 1.04 percent to 1,156.82. The A-share index rose 1.04 percent to 1,216.61 and the B-share index gained 1.19 percent at 61.15.
"The uptick was largely due to institutional buying in anticipation the market may swing towards an upward trend," said Liu Yu, an Orient Securities Co trader. "The benchmark index has a chance to test 1,200 points early next year."
China's foreign-exchange watchdog late on Friday gave a US$50 million limit to AIG Investment Corp to invest in yuan-denominated securities and a US$100 million cap to Temasek Holding Pte, an investment arm of the Singapore government.
The move raised the total amount of money foreign investors are allowed to invest in local-currency shares and bonds to US$5.64 billion after the central government said in July it planned to boost the ceiling to US$10 billion.
China Petroleum & Chemical Corp, Asia's biggest oil refiner, jumped 2.91 percent to 4.59 yuan (57 US cents). CITIC Securities Co, China's biggest listed brokerage, 2.31 percent to 5.31 yuan.
Shanghai Pudong Development Bank Co, China's second biggest listed lender, advanced 1.54 percent to 9.89 yuan. The bank said yesterday it agreed to allow partner Citigroup Inc to boost its stake to 19.9 percent from 4.62 percent.
China Minsheng Banking Corp, the nation's only privately held lender, was up 0.72 percent at 4.22 yuan. Huaxia Bank Co, China's fourth publicly traded lender, grew 0.42 percent to 4.75 yuan.