SHANGHAI: China stocks extended gains to end higher on Monday, as trade tensions eased after US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said their trade war with China was put "on hold".The blue-chip CSI300 index ended up 0.5 per cent at 3,921.24 points, while the Shanghai Composite Index closed 0.6 per cent higher at 3,213.84 points. The US trade war with China is "on hold" after the world's largest economies agreed to drop their tariff threats while they work on a wider trade agreement, Mnuchin said on Sunday.China has agreed to significantly increase its purchases of US goods and services, the two countries said on Saturday, but made no mention of a $200 billion target the White House had touted earlier. "The US-China agreement should provide investors some relief as a full-scale trade war has been avoided," said Tai Hui, Chief Market Strategist for Asia Pacific, J.P. Morgan Asset Management.Transport firms, in particular shipping companies, led the rally on the mainland, with Cosco Shipping Holdings closing up 7.4 per cent. Shanghai stocks have risen 4.29 per cent this month.About 16.45 billion shares were traded on the Shanghai exchange, roughly 116.9 per cent of the market's 30-day moving average of 14.07 billion shares a day. The volume in the previous trading session was 13.65 billion shares.As of 0701 GMT, China's A-shares were trading at a premium of 21.79 per cent over the Hong Kong-listed H-shares.

Source: Economic Times May 21, 2018 07:52 UTC