China’s stocks rebounded from the biggest two-day loss in 18 months yesterday as construction and bank shares gained after the Chinese government pledged to support machinery exports and on speculation the government is taking steps to boost lending.
Sany Heavy Industry Co (3一重工) and Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science and Technology Co (中聯重工科技) both rallied 10 percent. The Chinese State Council pledged to guarantee financing for exports of large equipment and encourage lending by commercial banks for equipment manufacturing. China Construction Bank Corp (中國建設銀行) led gains for lenders, rising 6.8 percent. China Business News reported that the Chinese central bank will not require banks to set aside reserves for deposits from non-bank financial institutions.
The Shanghai Composite Index surged 3.4 percent to 3,072.54 at the close, the biggest gain since Dec. 4. It had lost 5 percent over the previous two days on speculation the government would take action to cool rapid gains in equity prices. The CSI 300 Index advanced 3.3 percent.
“Some investors are bottom-fishing after the pretty big correction over the past few days,” said Wu Kan (吳侃), a fund manager at Dragon Life Insurance Co (正德人壽). “Machinery companies are the favorite ones for investors now as the government looks like it’s starting to implement specific policies for Chinese companies to go overseas.”
Hong Kong’s stock market was closed yesterday and today for the Christmas holidays. The Bloomberg China-US Equity Index, the measure of the most-traded US-listed Chinese companies, retreated 0.6 percent in New York on Wednesday.
Trading volumes in the Shanghai Composite were 10 percent below the 30-day average. The index has risen 45 percent this year on speculation the central bank will extend interest-rate cuts and as investors boosted stock purchases with borrowed money.
The Shanghai gauge is valued at 11.6 times 12-month projected earnings, near the highest level in three years.
The outstanding value of margin trading dropped for a second day to 667.2 billion yuan (US$107.3 billion) on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, according to the data from the bourse. It reached a record 670.6 billion yuan on Monday.
Gauges of financial and industrial stocks in the CSI 300 advanced at least 4.4 percent for the two biggest gains among 10 industry groups. Huaxia Bank Co (華夏銀行) jumped 10 percent and Bank of Ningbo Co (寧波銀行) surged 5.9 percent. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd (中國工商銀行) and Bank of China Ltd (中國銀行) gained at least 3 percent.
NEW IDENTITY: Known for its software, India has expanded into hardware, with its semiconductor industry growing from US$38bn in 2023 to US$45bn to US$50bn India on Saturday inaugurated its first semiconductor assembly and test facility, a milestone in the government’s push to reduce dependence on foreign chipmakers and stake a claim in a sector dominated by China. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened US firm Micron Technology Inc’s semiconductor assembly, test and packaging unit in his home state of Gujarat, hailing the “dawn of a new era” for India’s technology ambitions. “When young Indians look back in the future, they will see this decade as the turning point in our tech future,” Modi told the event, which was broadcast on his YouTube channel. The plant would convert
‘SEISMIC SHIFT’: The researcher forecast there would be about 1.1 billion mobile shipments this year, down from 1.26 billion the prior year and erasing years of gains The global smartphone market is expected to contract 12.9 percent this year due to the unprecedented memorychip shortage, marking “a crisis like no other,” researcher International Data Corp (IDC) said. The new forecast, a dramatic revision down from earlier estimates, gives the latest accounting of the ongoing memory crunch that is affecting every corner of the electronics industry. The demand for advanced memory to power artificial intelligence (AI) tasks has drained global supply until well into next year and jeopardizes the business model of many smartphone makers. IDC forecast about 1.1 billion mobile shipments this year, down from 1.26 billion the prior
People stand in a Pokemon store in Tokyo on Thursday. One of the world highest-grossing franchises is celebrated its 30th anniversary yesterday.
Zimbabwe’s ban on raw lithium exports is forcing Chinese miners to rethink their strategy, speeding up plans to process the metal locally instead of shipping it to China’s vast rechargeable battery industry. The country is Africa’s largest lithium producer and has one of the world’s largest reserves, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). Zimbabwe already banned the export of lithium ore in 2022 and last year announced it would halt exports of lithium concentrates from January next year. However, on Wednesday it imposed the ban with immediate effect, leaving unclear what the lithium mining sector would do in the
RSS