1st LD-Writethru: Chinese shares extend winning streak

BEIJING, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- China's major stock indices rose for a seventh consecutive trading day Monday, led by strong performance in the real estate sector.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index climbed 0.52 percent to end at 3,409.48 points while the Shenzhen Component Index closed 0.35 percent higher at 11,382.72 points.

Combined turnover on the two bourses stood at 558.6 billion yuan (86.2 billion U.S. dollars), up from 499 billion yuan the previous trading day.

Share prices of liquor maker Kweichow Moutai hit a new high and closed 1.86 percent higher at 752.13 yuan per share, bringing the company's market capitalization to 945 billion yuan.

The real estate sector was among the biggest winners, as recently released sales data for 2017 boosted investor confidence.

China Vanke, the country's top property developer, saw its Shenzhen-listed shares up 3.54 percent.

The company said earlier that its sales in 2017 reached 529.88 billion yuan, up more than 40 percent compared with 2016.

Poly Real Estate Group, another major developer, saw its shares jump by 2.16 percent.

The strong growth came amid slowing growth in the country's overall floor space sold, which increased by 7.9 percent year on year in the first 11 months of 2017, down from 24.3 percent for the same period of 2016.

Last year, the housing market cooled as local governments toughened measures to rein in property speculation, especially in major cities.

The ChiNext Index, China's NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, closed 0.26 percent higher at 1,806.16 points Monday. Enditem