Shares close higher at midday after RRR hike

Xinhua, April 18, 2011

Chinese shares closed higher midday Monday despite Sunday's required reserve ratio (RRR) hike.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index was up 8.3 points, or 0.27 percent, to 3,058.83.

The Shenzhen Component Index rose 34.84 points, or 0.27 percent, to 13,000.58.

China's central bank raised the RRR of the country's lenders by 50 basis points on Sunday, the fourth time this year to raise the RRR in an effort to curb stubbornly high inflation.

The consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, had reached a 32-month high of 5.4 percent in March.