China stocks end up, quake disrupts trade

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Chinese stocks rose 0.37 percent on Monday, bouncing from an early dip on fears that higher inflation may prompt economic cooling steps, but trade was disrupted by a strong earthquake in southwest China that rocked buildings in Shanghai nearly half an hour before the market closed.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index ended at 3,626.982 points. The index hit its intraday high of 3,668.857 around the time the earthquake hit.

Gaining stocks in Shanghai outnumbered losers by 636 to 245, while turnover in Shanghai A shares was active at 116.4 billion yuan ($16.7 billion), compared with Friday's 128.5 billion yuan.

Financial shares were mixed with Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, the country's biggest lender, rising 0.33 percent to 6.16 yuan.

($1 = 6.98 yuan)

(Reporting by Claire Zhang, Editing by Edmund Klamann)