SHANGHAI, April 2 (Reuters) - China stocks settled higher on Thursday, led by energy shares as crude oil futures jumped on hopes for a deal to end the price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia, and by tech firms.
At the close, the Shanghai Composite index was up 1.69% at 2,780.64.
The blue-chip CSI300 index was up 1.62%, with its financial sector sub-index higher by 0.96%, the consumer staples sector up 1.75%, the real estate index higher 0.84% and the healthcare sub-index up 1.48%.
The smaller Shenzhen index ended up 2.26% and the start-up board ChiNext Composite index was higher by 2.797%.
The CSI300 energy index closed up 3.3%, as crude oil futures surged after U.S. President Donald Trump said he expected Saudi Arabia and Russia to reach a deal soon to end their price war and Russian President Vladimir Putin called for a solution to "challenging" oil markets.
Tech stocks also outperformed, with the CSI IT index surging 4.8%, as investors expected Beijing to further seek tech self-sufficiency.
The Trump administration is tightening rules to prevent China from obtaining advanced U.S. technology for commercial purposes and then diverting it to military use, several sources told Reuters.
China reported on Thursday six new coronavirus deaths as of the end of Wednesday, the same number as on Tuesday.
China's ports and shipping firms are bracing for a second wave of supply chain disruptions that may be deeper and more prolonged than during the country's coronavirus lockdown as the global spread of the virus chokes off international demand.
Around the region, MSCI 's Asia ex-Japan stock index was firmer by 0.13%, while Japan's Nikkei index closed down 1.37%.
At 07:07 GMT, the yuan was quoted at 7.1049 per U.S. dollar, 0.08% weaker than the previous close of 7.099.
As of 07:08 GMT, China's A-shares were trading at a premium of 27.62% over the Hong Kong-listed H-shares. (Reporting by Shanghai Newsroom; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)

Sumber : reuters.com