Oct. 9, 2009 (China Knowledge) - Chinese stocks ended higher on Friday, after reports that Liu Mingkang, chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission, predicted that China's GDP growth will exceed 8% in September.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index, which covers both A shares and B shares on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, rose 4.76% or 132.29 points to close at 2,911.72 points after fluctuating between 2,912.55 and 2,834.62 points.

The Shenzhen Component Index on the smaller Shenzhen Stock Exchange grew 5.3% or 594.39 points to 11,801.23 points, after touching an intraday low of 11,452.33 points.

Gainers in the Shanghai market amounted to 824, while 32 were unchanged. Aggregated turnover on the two bourses was RMB 145.52 billion.

Market heavyweight PetroChina<601857><0857><PTR>, the nation's top oil producer, grew 3.7% to close at RMB 13.17, while Asia's largest oil refiner, Sinopec<600028><0386><SNP>, increased 4.34% to RMB 11.79.

Nonferrous metal firms were gainers. Aluminum Corp of China Ltd<601600><2600><ACH>, the nation's largest aluminum producer, surged by the daily limit of 10.03% to RMB 14.04. Baoji Titanium Industry Co Ltd<600456> jumped 9.07% to RMB 22.49.

Gold firms were among the winners. Shandong Gold Mining Co<600547>, China's second-largest listed gold miner, rose 10% to RMB 64.9. Zhongjin Gold Corp Ltd<600489>, China's biggest publicly traded gold miner by market value, spiked the daily maximum of 10.01% to RMB 59.68.

Steel makers were also gainers. China's largest steel maker Baoshan Iron and Steel Co<600019> grew 4.33% to RMB 6.74. Laiwu Steel Corp<600102>, one of the top ten steelmakers in China, increased 4.5% to RMB 10.68.

Coal stocks ended higher. Datong Coal Industry Co Ltd<601001>, the country's second-largest coal producer by capacity, jumped 10.01% to RMB 37.24. China Shenhua Energy Co Ltd<601088><1088>, the nation's biggest coal producer, rose 8.33% to RMB 32.89.

Bank stocks also ended higher. Bank of China Ltd<601988><3988> increased 2.56% to RMB 4. Industrial Bank Co Ltd<601166> increased 6.6% to close at RMB 36.02.