Financial, commodities lead way to 8-month high

China's stocks rose to an eight-month high, led by financial and commodity shares, on speculation the government is accelerating State-owned enterprise reform and relaxing rules to help brokerages free up capital for expansion.

China Everbright Bank Co gained 4.5 percent and Everbright Securities Co climbed 3.3 percent on plans for their parent company to become a joint stock company. CITIC Securities Co and Haitong Securities Co, the largest listed brokerages, soared more than 4 percent. The China Securities Regulatory Commission plans to lower some risk management rules for brokerages, the China Securities Journal reported.

The newspaper said that the net capital-net assets ratio requirement may be cut to 20 percent from 40 percent. It didn't cite any sources.