China stocks rebound despite mixed data
August 11, 2015, 4:39 am

Chinese investors believe they have something to smile about as speculation rises that the government might yet again intervene to stabilize markets [Xinhua]

On Tuesday, the Hang Seng traded up by 0.93 per cent to 24,748. It has gone up by 1.38 per cent over five days of trading and +0.40 per cent since the same time last year.

The SHCOMP rose 0.40 per cent to 3,943; it has jumped 8.06 per cent over the course of the past five days of trading.

Right before the noon break, it fell to 3,912.

While it has fallen nine per cent over a three-month period, it remains up over 75 per cent year on year.

The indices performance comes despite General Administration of Customs (GAC) data which shows that exports dropped by 0.9 per cent from a year ago to 7.75 trillion yuan, while imports slumped by 14.6 per cent to 5.88 trillion yuan.

On a monthly basis, consumer prices edged up 0.3 per cent in July, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced on Sunday, reaching 1.6 per cent year-on-year.

Producer prices, meanwhile, fell 5.4 per cent year-on year.

China’s Central Bank has earmarked three per cent as the ideal inflation rate for a healthy economy.

But the negative data – including last week’s dismal Caixin Media/Markit manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) report – has fueled speculation that Beijing may yet again intervene to stabilize markets.

Late last month, the central bank said it will continue to improve lending structure, lower financing costs, keep the yuan stable, stabilize financial market expectations and boost the real economy.

China’s central bank also injected 50 billion yuan ($8.05 billion) into the money markets through seven-day reverse bond repurchase agreements at the end of July.

It isn’t all bad news – last week, the Caixin/Markit services Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) showed that business activity in China’s service sector rose to an 11-month high in July.

It rose to 53.8 from June’s 51.8 owing to rising business volumes and solid new order growth. A figure above 50 indicates growth; below 50 refers to contraction.

The BRICS Post