China stock account openings rise 6 pct last week

SHANGHAI, July 21 (Reuters) - Chinese investors opened 6 percent more stock trading accounts last week than the week before, reflecting growing confidence in the Shanghai market, official data showed late on Tuesday.

Investors opened 230,011 new accounts for local-currency A-share trade in the week ended July 16, up from 217,096 new accounts in the previous week, China Securities Depositary and Clearing Corp said on its website (www.chinaclear.cn).

China's stock market has fallen 23 percent in value so far this year making it one of the world's worst performers after China put in place a range of policies to cool the mainland's red-hot property sector.

But the index has rebounded 4 percent so far this week and has broken through a critical psychological resistance level at 2,500 points, on expectation that the government will maintain stable economic policies for the rest of the year. [ID:nTOE66H00H]

Retail investors account for around two thirds of stock market turnover, with new investors often flocking to the market during upturns and punters staying away during downturns, making the data on new account openings a rough gauge of sentiment. (Reporting by Chen Yixin and Jacqueline Wong)