Chart of the Day: Stocks Climb Nearly a Quarter for the Quarter

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose nearly one-quarter in the first quarter of this year, the market’s best performance since late 2014.

The index jumped by 5.6% on Feb. 25 and met the bar for a bull market after a year of poor performance. It is generally agreed that a bull market begins when a stock benchmark rises 20% above a recent low.

The smaller Shenzhen Component Index also began a bull run in the first quarter. The combined trading volume on the two markets, which can serve as a barometer for investor sentiment, exceeded 1 trillion yuan ($149 billion) on Feb. 25. Volume hadn’t been that high since November 2015.

On Friday, the last trading day in March, the Shanghai Composite closed at 3,090.76, up 23.93% from Dec. 28, the last trading day of 2018’s fourth quarter.

The Shanghai Composite on Monday surged by 2.58% to 3,170.36, with trading volume reaching 480 billion yuan.

Contact reporter Timmy Shen (hongmingshen@caixin.com)