(Yicai Global) Aug. 3 -- China's mainland stock markets held onto their strong start of the month in the morning session amid some positive economic data releases. The Shanghai Stock Exchange’s Star 50 Index rose the most.

The Star 50 Index jumped 5.92 percent to 1,602.52 by midday. The benchmark tracks the 50 biggest firms on the fresh Nasdaq-style board.

The ChiNext Price Index, which tracks growth enterprises listed in Shenzhen, climbed 1.85 percent to 2,847.00. The Shenzhen Component Index stood at 13,859.30, up 1.62 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index edged up 1.08 percent to 3,345.79.

The Caixin manufacturing PMI widened by 1.6 points to 52.8 in July from a month earlier and that is 1.5 points more than what analysts had predicted, based on the latest privately compiled benchmark of factory activity.

Editor: Emmi Laine