Small-company shares see biggest rise in two months

Chinese mainland stocks rose, with a gauge of small-company shares surging by the most in two months, in a broad-based rally after United States Federal Reserve officials scaled back their forecasts for interest-rate increases.

The Shanghai Composite Index advanced 1.2 percent, led by technology companies. The ChiNext index in Shenzhen jumped 5.6 percent, while the southern Chinese city's benchmark index rose to a three-week high.

More than 1,000 stocks in the Shanghai gauge advanced and only 29 declined, including Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd and PetroChina Co, long considered targets of government buying because of their large index weightings.