Defense stocks likely to boom

BEIJING - Defense-related stocks are likely to outperform the market on investors' expectation of China's growing military spending, which will be unveiled at the annual sessions of the country's top legislature this week.

Bucking the downward trend, Beijing Aerospace Changfeng Co, a manufacturer of high-tech military equipment gained 4.62 percent to close at 12.9 yuan ($1.89) on Tuesday, after rising for four consecutive trading days. Communication equipment maker China Spacesat Co Ltd also advanced 5.75 percent to 35.14 yuan.

The defense sector gained nearly 10 percent in February while the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index only rose about 2.1 percent in the same period.