SHANGHAI - Mainland stocks rose for the first time in three days, led by automakers and commodity producers, after vehicle sales surged and US manufacturing grew faster than estimated.

"We won't see a big slump in economic growth," said Wei Wei, an analyst at West China Securities Co. "The alliance between Ping An and Shenzhen Bank will enable them to take more market share."

The Shanghai Composite Index climbed 32.89, or 1.3 percent, to close at 2655.78 on Thursday, the highest in two weeks. The CSI 300 Index rose 1.3 percent to 2921.39.

China may invest 250 billion yuan ($36.7 billion) to 300 billion yuan in offshore drilling equipment to add production capacity for oil and natural gas, Shanghai Securities News said, citing Jin Xiaojian, director of projects engineering for China National Offshore Oil Corp. Offshore Oil Engineering, a unit of China's third-largest oil producer, added 3.2 percent to 7.16 yuan, the highest since April 26.

FAW Car Co, which makes passenger cars with Volkswagen AG, advanced to the 10 percent daily limit to 18.36 yuan. China's passenger-car sales grew 59 percent in August, more than three times July's pace, as higher incentives by dealers offset government measures to cool the economy, the China Automotive Technology & Research Center said on Wednesday shortly before Wednesday's 3 pm close of trade.

Hang Seng gains

Hong Kong stocks rose, driving the Hang Seng Index up by the most in a month as faster-than-estimated growth in US manufacturing boosted optimism in a global economic recovery.

The Hang Seng Index rose 1.2 percent to 20868.92 at the close on Thursday.

The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of H shares of mainland companies surged 1.7 percent to 11688.84 on Thursday.

Bloomberg News

(China Daily 09/03/2010 page17)