China shares edge higher on data rebound, policy easing hopes

Sino Land

02/04/2019 05:43

* SSEC +0.4 pct, touches new 10-month high; CSI300 +0.1 pct
    * Both indexes extend Monday's rises
    * Policy easing expectations contribute to recent rally -
UBS
analyst

    SHANGHAI, April 2 (Reuters) - Chinese shares edged higher on
Tuesday in a choppy morning session, with the benchmark equity
index hitting a more than 10-month high, as investors continued
to take heart from a rebound in manufacturing data and hopes for
policy easing.
 
** At the midday break, the Shanghai Composite index  .SSEC  was
up 0.41 percent at 3,183.31 points. It had earlier risen as much
as 0.56 percent, hitting its highest level since May 23, 2018.
 
** China's blue-chip CSI300 index  .CSI300  was up 0.11 percent,
having earlier touched a one-year high, with its financial
sector sub-index  .CSI300FS  rising 0.47 percent. But the real
estate index  .CSI000952  fell 0.26 percent and the healthcare
sub-index  .CSI300HC  lost 1.1 percent.
 
** Chinese A-shares have been supported by a number of factors,
including stronger manufacturing data released Monday, an
improved outlook for U.S.-China trade talks and credit growth,
abundant liquidity, and investors' expectations of an imminent
cut to banks' reserve requirement ratios, Gao Ting, head of
China Strategy at UBS Securities, said in a note. 
 
** Consumer staples firms  .CSI000912  fell 1.77 percent, with
shares in China's leading liquor makers dropping as foreigners
dumped shares through the Stock Connect programme.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N21K0JI
 
** Chinese H-shares listed in Hong Kong  .HSCE  rose 0.11
percent to 11,570.86, while the Hang Seng Index  .HSI  was up
0.09 percent at 29,590.05. 
 
** The smaller Shenzhen index  .SZSC  was up 0.67 percent and
the start-up board ChiNext Composite index  .CNT  was higher by
0.49 percent.
 
** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index
 .MIAPJ0000PUS  was firmer by 0.13 percent while Japan's Nikkei
index  .N225  was up 0.14 percent.
 
** The yuan  CNY=CFXS  was quoted at 6.721 per U.S. dollar, 0.13
percent weaker than the previous close of 6.7125. 
 
** The largest percentage gainers in the main Shanghai Composite
index were AVIC Capital Co Ltd  600705.SS , up 10.08 percent,
followed by Asian Star Anchor Chain Co Ltd Jiangsu  601890.SS ,
gaining 10.04 percent and Sinopec Oilfield Service Corp
 600871.SS , up by 10.04 percent.
 
** The largest percentage losses in the Shanghai index were
Hangzhou TianMuShan Pharmaceutical Enterprise Co Ltd
 600671.SS , down 9.99 percent, followed by Nanjing Xinjiekou
Department Store Co Ltd  600682.SS , losing 5.4 percent and
Zhejiang Jiecang Linear Motion Technology Co Ltd  603583.SS ,
down by 3.67 percent.
 
** So far this year, the Shanghai stock index is up 27.12
percent, while China's H-share index is up 14.2 percent.
Shanghai stocks have risen 2.58 percent this month. 
 
** The top gainers among H-shares were China Tower Corp Ltd
 0788.HK , up 2.7 percent, followed by Haitong Securities Co Ltd
 6837.HK , gaining 2.65 percent and Huaneng Power International
Inc  0902.HK , up by 2.64 percent.
 
** The three biggest H-shares percentage decliners were
Guangzhou Automobile Group Co Ltd  2238.HK , which has fallen
4.14 percent, Shenzhou International Group Holdings Ltd
 2313.HK , which has lost 1.8 percent and CNOOC Ltd  0883.HK ,
down by 1.7 percent.
 
** In Hong Kong, the sub-index of the Hang Seng index tracking
energy shares  .HSCIE  dipped 0.6 percent while the IT sector
 .HSCIIT  rose 0.5 percent. The top gainer on the Hang Seng was
Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd  0027.HK , up 3.62 percent, while
the biggest loser was Sino Land Co Ltd  0083.HK , which was down
2.07 percent.

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China stock market graphics suite     http://reut.rs/1NfkoGl
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 (Reporting by Andrew Galbraith; Editing by Rashmi Aich)
 ((Andrew.Galbraith@tr.com; +86 21 6104 1779; Reuters Messaging:
andrew.galbraith.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net ; Twitter: https://twitter.com/apgalbraith))