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Chinese shares jumped on Tuesday, led by gains in property and technology stocks after the country’s ruling Politburo promised to boost employment, provide more support to the real estate sector and revive a “brutal” economic recovery.
Mainland China’s CSI 300 rose 2.6 percent in morning trade, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 3.2 percent. The Hang Seng Mainland Properties and Hang Seng Tech indexes also posted strong gains, adding 11.3 percent and 4.6 percent, respectively.
Shares in Hong Kong-listed Country Garden, China’s biggest developer by revenue, rose 13.5 percent after falling 9 percent on Monday amid a selloff in the sector. Among leading technology stocks, e-commerce platform JD.com rose 6.7 percent.
Chinese bourses outperformed stocks in the broader region, with South Korea’s Kospi adding 0.1 percent and Japan’s Topix down 0.1 percent.
Investors watched closely Monday’s meeting of China’s powerful 24-member Politburo amid signs that Beijing will intervene to revive the country’s economy, which made a strong recovery earlier this year after zero Covid restrictions were eased but has since lost steam.
Acknowledging the “brutal progress” the economy has made, the group said it would work to address unemployment, accelerate the issuance of special local government bonds and boost consumption of electronics, electric vehicles and other goods.
She added that the government will “stabilize” foreign investment and trade, which have come under pressure in recent months, and will also work to increase the number of international flights that have not yet fully recovered from the pandemic.
The economy is plagued by weak consumption, a liquidity crunch in the real estate sector and faltering manufacturing, which is driving growth less than 1 percent in the second quarter compared to the previous three months. The Politburo said on Monday that it was “necessary to actively expand domestic demand” and “expand consumption by increasing residents’ incomes”.
Analysts at Goldman Sachs wrote that the Politburo was “a little more dovish than expected”, noting various challenges for the economy and that they expected more political support in the coming months.
But economists cautioned that the announcement was light on details. Tuesday’s gains left Chinese shares up just 0.3 percent for the year and down nearly 3 percent in dollar terms, far behind the nearly 20 percent gain in the S&P 500 and double-digit gains for peers across the region.
Robert Carnell, head of Asia-Pacific research at ING, said: “We will withhold judgment until we hear some details. We’ve already had a lot of vague promises that don’t amount to much yet.”
Tuesday’s moves also preceded a busy week of central bank meetings and monetary policy announcements. The US Federal Reserve will announce a monetary policy decision on Wednesday, while the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan will set rates on Thursday and Friday.
Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 closed 0.4 percent higher on Monday, led by energy and financial stocks after a closely watched corporate survey showed slower-than-expected U.S. growth in July, reducing expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates further. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 0.2 percent.
Oil prices were also up slightly on Tuesday, with international benchmark Brent crude adding 0.2 percent to trade at $82.94 and U.S. West Texas Intermediate rising 0.3 percent to $78.96.
Yields on two-year and 10-year US Treasury bonds were essentially flat.
