SHANGHAI, May 15 (Reuters) – China stocks ended higher on Tuesday, underpinned by a rally in late trade, as optimism towards MSCI inclusion of 234 Chinese large caps helped overcome worries about China economy and Sino-U.S. trade war.

** The blue-chip CSI300 index ended 0.4 percent higher at 3,924.10, while the Shanghai Composite Index closed up 0.6 percent at 3,192.12 points

** MSCI, the U.S. index publisher, said on Tuesday 234 Chinese large caps will be partially included in its global and regional indexes on June 1, following a review ahead of China’s inclusion in MSCI’s widely tracked equity benchmarks.

** Positive comments from fund managers helped ease investor concerns after China reported weaker-than-expected investment and retail sales in April, and following comments from U.S. Ambassador to China Terry Branstad that the two countries are still “very far apart” on resolving trade frictions. ** The CSI300 financial sector sub-index was lower by 0.19 percent, the consumer staples sector up 0.34 percent, the real estate index up 0.38 percent and healthcare sub-index up 2.66 percent. ** The smaller Shenzhen index ended up 0.91 percent and the start-up board ChiNext Composite index was higher by 1.48 percent. ** Around the region, MSCI’s Asia ex-Japan stock index was weaker by 0.85 percent, while Japan’s Nikkei index closed down 0.21 percent . ** At 0704 GMT, the yuan was quoted at 6.3504 per U.S. dollar, 0.21 percent weaker than previous close of 6.3369. ** The largest percentage gainers in the main Shanghai Composite index were Cultural Investment Holdings Co Ltd up 10.05 percent, followed by Jiangsu Rutong Petro-Machinery Co Ltd gaining 10.03 percent and Zhejiang Dehong Automotive Electronic & Electrical Co Ltd up by 10.02 percent. ** The largest percentage losses in the Shanghai index were Aurora Optoelectronics Co Ltd down 9.98 percent, followed by Shanghai Diesel Engine Co Ltd losing 7.62 percent and Luenmei Quantum Co Ltd down by 5.87 percent. ** So far this year, the Shanghai stock index slipped 3.5 percent, the CSI300 dropped 2.6 percent, while China’s H-share index listed in Hong Kong is up 6.3 percent. Shanghai stocks climbed 3.58 percent this month.

** About 12.45 billion shares were traded on the Shanghai exchange, roughly 85.3 percent of the market’s 30-day moving average of 14.61 billion shares a day. The volume in the previous trading session was 12.93 billion. ** As of 0704 GMT, China’s A-shares were trading at a premium of 21.60 percent over the Hong Kong-listed H-shares. ** The Shanghai stock index is above its 50-day moving average and below its 200-day moving average. ** The price-to-earnings ratio of the Shanghai index was 13.68 as of the last full trading day, while the dividend yield was 2.2 percent (Reporting by Shanghai Newsroom, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)