SHANGHAI, April 9 (Reuters) - China stocks settled higher on
Thursday, tracking strength in other Asian markets on hopes the
new coronavirus pandemic may be approaching a peak.
    ** At the close, the Shanghai Composite index  .SSEC  was up
0.37% at 2,825.90.
    ** The blue-chip CSI300 index  .CSI300  was up 0.33%, with
its financial sector sub-index  .CSI300FS  higher by 0.2%, the
consumer staples sector  .CSI000912  up 0.12%, the real estate
index  .CSI000952  down 0.81% and the healthcare sub-index
 .CSI300HC  up 2.61%.
    ** The smaller Shenzhen index  .SZSC  ended up 0.85% and the
start-up board ChiNext Composite index  .CNT  was higher by
1.648%.
    ** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index
 .MIAPJ0000PUS  was firmer by 1.47%, while Japan's Nikkei index
 .N225  closed down 0.04%. 
    ** Helping broader sentiment was New York Governor Andrew
Cuomo's statement that the state's efforts at social distancing
were working in getting the virus under control in one of the
biggest hot spots in the United States.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2BW0BB 
    ** U.S. President Donald Trump said he would like to reopen
the U.S. economy with a "big bang" but that the death toll from
the coronavirus first needs to be heading down.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2BW1OM 
    ** Market sentiment has improved somewhat after the recent
U.S. massive monetary and fiscal easing to help its economy,
which could help lift risk appetite for the A-share market,
analysts at Eversight Securities said in note.
    ** Long-term investors will now start to buy shares given
the reasonable valuations of China stocks, the brokerage added.
    ** China's new bank loans are expected to have rebounded in
March from a sharp drop the previous month, a Reuters poll
showed, as policymakers continue to urge lenders to help
cash-strapped companies hit hard by the coronavirus crisis.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2BW1N7 
    ** China released new measures on Wednesday to try and
prevent asymptomatic "silent carriers" of coronavirus from
causing a second wave of infections, as the country reported
another modest rise in new confirmed cases.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N2BX01I 
    ** At 07:07 GMT, the yuan  CNY=CFXS  was quoted at 7.0677
per U.S. dollar, 0.04% weaker than the previous close of 7.0651.
    ** As of 07:08 GMT, China's A-shares were trading at a
premium of 25.69% over the Hong Kong-listed H-shares.

 (Reporting by Shanghai Newsroom; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
 ((luoyan.liu@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging:
luoyan.liu.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))