Buying support props up equities

Mainland stocks rose for a sixth day, the benchmark index's longest stretch of gains since May, as volatility fell amid unprecedented government intervention to support equities.

The Shanghai Composite Index climbed 2.4 percent to 4,123.92 points, led by material producers and financial companies. Some 531 companies were suspended from trading on mainland exchanges, equivalent to 18 percent of total listings. The measure has rallied 18 percent since bottoming out on July 8 as a gauge of 10-day price swings dropped to a one-month low.

"Volatility has certainly fallen off in a big way and we are seeing sustained signs of stability," said Bernard Aw, a Singapore-based strategist at IG Asia Pte. "The upshot is that this sideways grind is going to stay for a while longer as onshore markets slowly resume normalcy, with the government carefully scaling back the support measures."