Optimism in Middle East, gold stocks lead share gain at China stock market on Friday: analyst

Chinese stocks closed higher on Friday, mainly led by optimism over the Middle East situation and strong performances of gold stocks, market analyst Timothy Pope said.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index increasing 1.12 percent to 4,031.51 points. The Shenzhen Component Index closed 0.75 percent higher at 14,963.41 points.

The combined turnover of stocks covered by the two indices reached 3.24 trillion yuan (about 476 billion U.S. dollars), up from 2.55 trillion yuan on the previous trading day.

In market trading, non-ferrous metals, commercial aerospace, and power grid equipment shares were among the top gainers, while industrial gas and glass substrates sectors led the declines.

The ChiNext Index, tracking China's Nasdaq-style board of growth enterprises, gained 0.5 percent to close at 3,830.35 points.

Pope said the gains in the Chinese shares came partly from the positive global oil market provoked by US President Donald Trump's remarks regarding the war with Iran.

"Chinese mainland stock markets actually saw their first weekly gain in a month, with the Shanghai Composite Index up marginally on last Friday’s close. Today the index was up 1.1 percent while the Shenzhen Component rose three quarters of one percent. There's renewed optimism, I have just been hearing over a potential peace deal between the US and Iran after comments by Donald Trump. But it is important to point out that he's made these sorts of statements before and it's come to nothing, but this time it did provoke another strong reaction from equity and oil markets," he said.

Pope said apart from the strong performance of sectors such as gold, the market gain linked with the recent move of U.S. tech giant Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX).

SpaceX has priced its initial public offering (IPO) at 135 U.S. dollars per share and raised 75 billion dollars through the sale of about 555.56 million shares, U.S. media reported Thursday.

"We also saw some flow on effects for gold stocks, gold prices were impacted and those were among the best performing and most popular stocks on the Chinese mainland. Today Zijin Mining Group adding 6.4 percent and the big financial institutions gaining as well. But we also saw investors hunting for proxies on the SpaceX IPO, which was true for the whole week. This is an interesting case because it's been widely reported now that SpaceX made a decision to exclude Chinese mainland and Hong Kong investors from the offering. The roadshow and IPO websites were not accessible on the Chinese mainland or in Hong Kong, reportedly at SpaceX's insistence. This is apparently the first time this has happened, and it's extra significant because this is going to be the biggest IPO the world has ever seen. So today we saw a hunt for stocks that might give Chinese investors some secondhand exposure to SpaceX," he said.

Optimism in Middle East, gold stocks lead share gain at China stock market on Friday: analyst

A senior official from China's State Taxation Administration on Tuesday reported major improvements in taxpayer convenience and a surge in overseas tourists using China's departure tax refund service in the first six months of this year.

Rong Hailou, chief economist and spokesman for the State Taxation Administration, made the remarks during a press conference held by the State Council Information Office in Beijing to outline tax reform and development during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030).

He said the fully digitalized electronic tax bureau is now widely accessible. He noted that most high‑frequency tax services, including routine filing, invoice issuance, social security fee refunds, and personal contribution record inquiries, can now be handled online or via mobile devices.

The coverage of intelligent tax services has reached 85 percent, reducing average processing time by 20 percent, he said.

"We have piloted the 'instant invoicing upon payment' initiative in sectors closely related to people's daily lives, including parking lots, retail supermarkets, and hospitality services such as catering and accommodation, thereby improving the efficiency and user experience of invoice collection for consumers. We have also continued to refine the 'immediate tax refund' service for overseas tourists departing China. In the first half of the year, the number of overseas tourists using the tax refund service increased by 366 percent year-on-year, while the sales value of tax-refundable goods and the corresponding tax refund amount both rose by 69 percent," he said.

China posts tax service improvements, tourist refunds surge: official