China's major stock indices ended higher Thursday, with the strong performance of the financial service firms leading the gain.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index closed 0.35 percent higher at 2,584.57 points while the Shenzhen Component Index finished 0.12 percent higher at 7,479.22 points.

Securities companies, banks, and insurance firms were among the biggest winners, with shares of Ping An Insurance closing 2.8 percent higher.

The SSE 50 Index, which tracks 50 stocks on the Shanghai Stock Exchange with large market capitalization and high liquidity, went up 1.78 percent.

The gain came after the release of the closely-watched purchasing managers' index (PMI), which offered fresh signs of stabilization for the Chinese economy.

PMI for the manufacturing sector came in at 49.5 this month, slightly up from 49.4 in December, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said.

Although the figure stayed below the boom-bust line for a second month, the slight increase in the reading ended a consecutive four-month decline, NBS senior statistician Zhao Qinghe said.

The ChiNext Index, China's NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, dropped 0.23 percent to close at 1,227.99 points Thursday.