Commodity, finance companies lead rally

SHANGHAI: Mainland stocks advanced the most in six weeks, led by financial companies and commodity producers, as investors speculated recent losses that made the Shanghai Composite Index the world's worst performer were overdone.

China Life Insurance Co rallied 3.1 percent, snapping a seven-day losing streak, and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd climbed 2.5 percent. Jiangxi Copper Co, China's biggest producer of the metal, jumped 6 percent and China Shenhua Energy Co gained 4.6 percent.

The benchmark gauge added 69.12, or 2.36 percent, to close at 3003.83, the most since Dec 24. The index fell yesterday at its lowest since Oct 12, capping a 10 percent annual plunge that was the worst among 94 global indexes tracked by Bloomberg, amid concern the government would step up measures to slow the economy. The CSI 300 Index gained 2.69 percent to 3,230.72.