(Yicai Global) July 23 -- Earnings at China Securities, the country’s ninth-biggest brokerage by assets, jumped in the first half of the year thanks to gains from commissions and charges amid a soaring stock market.

Net profit is expected to have almost doubled to CNY4.58 billion (USD654 million) in the six months ended June from a year earlier on a near 68 percent jump in operating income to CNY9.9 billion, the Beijing-based company said in preliminary earnings report released today.

Brokerages benefited from stock market gains in the first half that were partly driven by a relatively loose macroeconomic policy. The ChiNext Index, which tracks growth stocks listed in Shenzhen, gained 35 percent.

China Securities said income from proprietary trading, brokerage commissions and investment banking charges all increased in the period.

Brokerage stocks have made sharp gains in the past month, with shares of China Securities [SHA:601066] advancing by as much as 70 percent between mid-June and early July. Today, the stock fell 0.9 percent to CNY47.75 (USD1.11).

Editor: Peter Thomas