China stocks rise 0.9 pct, 3-½ month closing high

SHANGHAI, Nov 23 - China's key stock index rose 0.92 percent on Monday to a fresh three-and-a-half-month closing high, with auto shares rising after bullish comments on the industry's outlook from the Guangzhou Autoshow.

The Shanghai Composite Index <.SSEC> ended at 3,338.663 points, more than doubling from a two-year low hit in October of last year.

Gaining Shanghai A shares outnumbered losers by 738 to 152 while turnover picked up to 203 billion yuan from Friday's 200 billion yuan.

While market sentiment remained upbeat with a strong outlook for the economy, profit-taking pressure was rising, analysts said.

The 14-day Relative Strength Index has risen to 74, above the overbought mark of 70.

Auto shares outperformed, with Dongfeng Automobile <600006.SS> jumping its 10 percent daily limit to 7.03 yuan. ((Multimedia versions of Reuters Top News are now available for: * 3000 Xtra : visit http://topnews.session.rservices.com * BridgeStation: view story .134 * Reuters Plus: from your WebDSS screen For more information on Top News, visit http://topnews.reuters.com)) Hong Kong report [.HK] Taiwan report [.TW] Shanghai indices <0#.INX.SS> Shenzhen indices <0#.INX.SZ> Hong Kong indices <0#.INX.HK> H-share index <.HSCE> Red share index <.HSCC> SPEED GUIDES <REUTER> <CHINA> <EQUITY> <EQUITY/NEWS1> RELATED NEWS AND OTHER TOPICS China news [CN] All equity news [E] Greater China news [Z] Chinese summary [TOP/CN] Hong Kong news [HK] Chinese hot stocks [CN-HOT] Taiwan news [TW] China IPOs [CN-IPO] Chinese diary [CN/DIARY] Hong Kong IPOs [HK/IPO] Press digests [PRESS/CN] [PRESS/HK] [PRESS/TW]