China Stocks Rise From 2-Month Low, Led by Drugmakers, Utilities

China’s stocks rose, with the benchmark index climbing from a two-month low, as health-care companies, power producers and makers of essential consumer items rallied.

North China Pharmaceutical Co. advanced 4.8 percent and Datang International Power Generation Co. surged the most in more than three months. Kweichow Moutai Co., the nation’s biggest maker of baijiu liquor, rose 1.3 percent. Citic Securities Co. led declines by brokerages after the 21st Century Herald said regulators may suspend a plan to allow foreign companies to list in Shanghai.

The Shanghai Composite tumbled 2.7 percent yesterday, with its 64.89-point drop matching the date on which Chinese authorities crushed student-led protests on June 4, 1989. The Bloomberg China-US 55 Index (CH55BN), the measure of the most-traded U.S.-listed Chinese companies, fell 0.6 percent at the close in New York.

The Shanghai gauge has climbed 5.3 percent this year on optimism the government will ease monetary policy and increase fiscal spending to bolster the economy. The central bank has cut lenders’ reserve-requirement ratios three times since November. Stocks in the measure are valued at 10 times estimated earnings, compared with a record low of 8.9 times on Jan. 6, according to weekly data compiled by Bloomberg.

Power Producers

Gauges tracking drugmakers and utilities rallied more than 1.7 percent today, the most among the CSI 300’s 10 industry groups. North China Pharmaceutical advanced 4.8 percent to 7.42 yuan. Yunnan Baiyao Group Co., a maker of traditional medicine, advanced 2.6 percent to 53.30 yuan. Datang International Power climbed 3.8 percent to 5.23 yuan.

The nation’s services industry expanded at a faster pace in May, according to a survey of purchasing managers released by HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics. The PMI rose to a 19- month high of 54.7 in May from 54.1 in April, HSBC and Markit said today. The result contradicted a government-backed survey of services businesses released June 3 and signs from other data that a slowdown is deepening.

A measure of consumer-staple producers rose 0.9 percent. Kweichow Moutai gained 1.3 percent to 239.61 yuan.

International Board

Citic Securities, the nation’s biggest-listed brokerage, slumped 0.9 percent to 13.22 yuan. Haitong Securities Co. fell 0.6 percent to 10.13 yuan.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission has put on hold the plan for the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s international board as it focuses on introducing an over-the-counter market, the 21st Century Herald reported, citing an unidentified person familiar with the matter. The CSRC did’t immediately respond to a fax by Bloomberg News seeking comment on the report.

Finance ministers and central bank governors from the Group of Seven countries will hold a call today to discuss the European debt crisis. Markets have been bracing for further deterioration in Spain’s banking industry and a possible Greek departure from the 17-member euro area as the region’s leaders wrangle over the details of support for the currency bloc.

Europe is China’s biggest export market, making up about 18 percent of the nation’s overseas shipments, according to Shenyin & Wanguo Securities Co.

The iShares FTSE China 25 Index Fund, the biggest Chinese exchange-traded fund in the U.S., fell 0.3 percent to $32.59.