China stocks off 12-month trough on c.bank support
04/02/2020 04:50
* SSEC +0.2%, CSI300 +1.3%, HSI +1.2%, HSCE +1.4%
* Central bank says cash injection will stabilise markets
* Reassurance comes after market meltdown on Monday
* Coronavirus claims more lives; first death in Hong Kong
SHANGHAI/HONG KONG, Feb 4 (Reuters) - China stocks rebounded
on Tuesday after policymakers stressed they will stabilise
markets that took a hammering amid the coronavirus outbreak,
with nearly $400 billion of market value erased from Shanghai's
benchmark index in the previous session.
** At the midday break, the Shanghai Composite index .SSEC was
up 0.2% at 2,752.44 points, jumping off a fresh one-year low hit
at the open. The blue-chip CSI300 index .CSI300 was up 1.3%.
** CSI300's financial sector sub-index .CSI300FS rose 0.6%,
the consumer staples sector .CSI000912 was up 1.6%, the real
estate index .CSI000952 gained 0.6% and the healthcare
sub-index .CSI300HC was up 2.2%.
** The smaller Shenzhen index .SZSC climbed 0.5% and the
start-up board ChiNext Composite index .CNT rose 3.7%.
** The onshore yuan CNY=CFXS was trading 0.3% firmer at 7 per
dollar, as of 0431 GMT.
** Investors shed almost $400 billion in market value from
Shanghai's benchmark index in the previous session - the first
opportunity to reflect their anxiety over the epidemic after the
extended Lunar New Year holiday. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2A31R2
** "After the drop on Monday, expectations for further policy
easing are rising, which provide support for the A-share
market," said Zhou Longgang, an analyst with Huachuang
Securities.
** China's central bank said on Tuesday that its huge liquidity
injections through open market operations this week showed its
determination to stabilise financial market expectations and
restore market confidence. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nB9N29N00J
** The People's Bank of China (PBOC) injected 1.2 trillion yuan
($173.81 billion) into money markets through reverse bond
repurchase agreements. It also unexpectedly cut the interest
rate on those short-term funding facilities by 10 basis points.
urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nB9N29N00A
** The impact from a virus epidemic on China's economy will be
limited and temporary and the country's financial markets will
return to normal in the long run, a commentary in a newspaper
owned by the central bank said on Monday afternoon. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nB9N29N00G
** The death toll in China rose on Tuesday by a new daily record
to more than 420 and total infections in China rose by 3,235 to
20,438. There were at least 151 cases in 23 other countries and
regions, including the United States, Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong
and Britain. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2A401C
** China has agreed to allow U.S. health experts into the
country as part of a World Health Organization (WHO) effort to
help fight the fast-spreading coronavirus, as the number of
cases and deaths continued to mount.
** Hong Kong recorded its first death from coronavirus infection
on Tuesday. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2A40H7
** The city's benchmark Hang Seng Index .HSI - which took much
of the heat last week - was up 1.2%. Chinese H-shares listed in
Hong Kong .HSCE rose 1.4%.
** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index
.MIAPJ0000PUS was firmer by 1.4%, while Japan's Nikkei index
.N225 gained 0.4%.
(Reporting by Luoyan Liu and Noah Sin, Editing by Sherry
Jacob-Phillips)
((luoyan.liu@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging:
luoyan.liu.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))