Chinese equities rose by more than 3 percent on Thursday as the overseas markets rebounded strongly on the better-than-forecast economic data from the United States.

The Shanghai Composite Index gained 70.15 points, or 3.06 percent to 2,361.7. The Shenzhen Component Index rose 227.61 points, or 2.6 percent to 8,983.87. Gains outnumbered losses by 775 to 38 in Shanghai and 640 to 50 in Shenzhen.

Banks led the advance in Thursday's rise. The banking sector index rose 4.88 percent from 3,723.9 points to 3,905.68 points, boosted by the performance of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) as revealed in its annual financial report. The bank posted a 35.2 percent rise in after-tax profits last year, which is beyond the market expectations.

The ICBC jumped 5.84 percent on Thursday to 3.99 yuan (0.59 U.S. dollars). The China Merchants Bank was up 6.94 percent to 16.03 yuan. The Bank of Communications soared 6.29 percent to close at 6.25 yuan.

Combined turnover on the two bourses reached 207.4 billion yuan (30.5 billion U.S. dollars), a slight rise from 200.78 billion yuan on the previous trading day.

Strong rebounding on the overseas market contributed much to Thursday's rise on the domestic market, according to analysts. Shares across Asian markets rose on Thursday in response to the overnight gain on Wall Street and the better-than-forecast economic data in the U.S.

The U.S. Commerce Department reported that orders for durable goods unexpectedly rose 3.4 percent last month, the biggest increase in more than a year. And new home sales in the United States unexpectedly rose 4.7 percent in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 337,000 from an upwardly revised January figure of 322,000.

The data brings recovery hope to the global economy but it is still hard to say whether the U.S. economy has bottomed out, according to analysts.

Source: Xinhua