Most Chinese stocks advanced in volatile trading, led by smaller companies, after officials said the $5 trillion rout in the nation’s shares is close to ending.
The Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.5 to 3,157.87 at 10:23 a.m. local time, after jumping as much as 1.8 percent earlier. About eight stocks rose for each that fell on the gauge. Mainland markets were shut for a two-day holiday at the end of last week. The ChiNext gauge of small-capitalization shares rallied 4 percent. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index climbed 0.6 percent from a two-year low.
“Trading in the next few days will be very critical in terms of setting the course of the market,” said Castor Pang, head of research at Core-Pacific Yamaichi Hong Kong. “Early buying from state funds can’t be excluded. But some investors are also becoming more positive today amid indications from officials that the market has reached a bottom.”
China worked to soothe concern over its economy at the Group of 20 gathering in Turkey at the weekend, with officials predicting stabilization in the currency and stock markets in the coming weeks. People’s Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan said state intervention prevented systemic risk and stopped a free-fall.
The CSI 300 Index dropped 0.2 percent. The Hang Seng Index slid 0.6 percent in Hong Kong.
Futures Limits
The China Financial Futures Exchange on Wednesday moved to limit trading of stock-index futures by lowering the bar for “abnormal trading” and increasing margin requirements and settlement fees.
China will deliver an update on its foreign-currency reserves as soon as Monday, providing investors with some idea of how much has been spent by regulators to shore up local markets and the yuan.
Mark Mobius, Tom DeMark and George Magnus -- world-renowned forecasters who view markets through three very different lenses -- are all finding common ground with their predictions that Chinese shares have further to drop. They say government efforts to prop up the $5.1 trillion market are futile, a view that’s gaining traction among analysts after an unprecedented two-month rescue effort failed to spark a sustained rally.
“I’d expect the government to be reducing intervention,” Mobius, the Franklin Resources Inc. money manager who’s been investing in emerging markets for more than four decades, said in an interview in Hong Kong on Friday. “They realize it’s not working.”
Courtesy: Bloomberg Business 7 September 2015