China, Hong Kong stocks rebound as dismal data fuels stimulus hopes

Guangdong Investment

02/03/2020 04:32

* SSEC +2.9, CSI300 +3.2%, HSI +0.9%, HSCE +1.9%
    * China Feb factory activity shrinks fastest ever
    * Market expects stimulus; infrastructure stocks rally

    SHANGHAI/HONG KONG, March 2 (Reuters) - China and Hong Kong
stocks rebounded on Monday, led by infrastructure and real
estate stocks, as bleak economic data fuelled hopes Beijing will
roll out further stimulus to support the world's second-largest
economy, and as new virus cases declined.
 
** At the midday break, the Shanghai Composite index  .SSEC  was
up 2.9% at 2,965.11 points. The blue-chip CSI300 index  .CSI300 
rose 3.2%.
    
** CSI300's financial sector sub-index  .CSI300FS  gained 3%,
the consumer staples sector  .CSI000912  rose 3.1%, the real
estate index  .CSI000952  rallied almost 5% and the healthcare
sub-index  .CSI300HC  was up 2.2%.
 
** Chinese H-shares listed in Hong Kong  .HSCE  rose 1.9%, while
the Hang Seng Index  .HSI  was up 0.9% at 26,365.04. 
 
** The smaller Shenzhen index  .SZSC  jumped 3.4% and the
start-up board ChiNext Composite index  .CNT  gained 2.9%.
 
** Factory activity in China contracted at the fastest pace ever
in February, even worse than during the global financial crisis,
highlighting the colossal damage from the coronavirus outbreak
on the economy.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2AU0Y6

** China's official Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) fell to a
record low of 35.7 in February from 50.0 in January, the
National Bureau of Statistics said on Saturday, well below the
50-point mark that separates monthly growth from contraction.  

** On Monday, a private survey showed China's factories were
dealt a devastating blow in February as the coronavirus epidemic
triggered the sharpest contraction in activity on record, with
the health crisis paralysing large parts of the economy.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2AT014 
   
** The SSE industrials sector  .SSEIN  and SSE properties
subindex  .SSEP  both jumped more than 5%. 
** Infrastructure stocks, which have an advantage in terms of
low valuations and absolute prices, rallied as investors
expected Beijing to step up policy support, said Wang Mingli,
executive director of Youpu Investment, a Shanghai-based private
equity fund. 

** China's central Hubei province, the epicentre of the
country's coronavirus outbreak, reported less than 200 cases of
new infections for the first time since January.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2AV05Y
    
** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index
 .MIAPJ0000PUS  was firmer by 1.2% while Japan's Nikkei index
 .N225  was up 1.7%.
 
** The yuan  CNY=CFXS  was 0.35% stronger at 6.9665 per U.S.
dollar as of 0353 GMT. The Hong Kong Dollar  HKD=D3  firmed
0.12% to 7.7833 per U.S. dollar.
 
** So far this year, the Shanghai stock index is down 2.8%,
while CSI300 index is down 0.8%. 
 
** The Shanghai stock index is below its 50-day moving average
and above its 200-day moving average.
    

 (Reporting by Luoyan Liu and Noah Sin; Editing by Sriraj
Kalluvila)
 ((luoyan.liu@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging:
luoyan.liu.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))