(Yicai Global) March 20 -- Chinese mainland stock exchanges saw a dramatic increase in daily trading volumes last month amid the economic fallout from the Covid-19 epidemic, according to the central bank data.

Forty-three percent more shares changed hands on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in February compared with January, and there was a 35 percent jump in transactions on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, according to a report released today by the People's Bank of China.

The bank gave no reasons for the higher volumes, but it may have had something to do with people confined at home during the virus outbreak trying their luck on the stock market.

An average of CNY605.3 billion (USD85.6 billion) worth of shares were traded in Shenzhen each day last month and CNY378.3 billion (USD53.5 billion) in Shanghai, the central bank said.

When markets reopened on Feb. 3 after an extended Chinese New Year holiday, the Shanghai Stock Exchange plunged 7.72 percent and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange by 8.45 percent. Since then, they have both recovered with the biggest rise on the Shanghai bourse being 2.28 percent on Feb. 17 and 3.17 percent on the Shenzhen bourse on March 4.

The Shanghai Composite Index ended February 3.23 percent down from the month before at 2,882.3 points while the Shenzhen Composite Index was up 2.8 percent at 10,980.77 points.

Daily spot turnover on the mainland bourses' bond markets for both institutional and individual investors last month was up 26 percent year on year to CNY39.72 billion (USD5.6 billion) and down 3.31 percent from January. Total turnover in February was CNY794.32 billion (USD112.4 billion).

In the inter-bank bond market for institutional investors only, daily transactions dropped quite steeply in February. They were down 42 percent month on month and 22 percent year on year to CNY492.46 billion. Total turnover last month was CNY9.8 trillion (USD1.4 trillion)

Editor: Kim Taylor