China stocks end week higher on hopes of more stimulus

Xinjiang La Chapelle Fashion Co

27/03/2020 07:29

SHANGHAI, March 27 (Reuters) - China stocks rose on Friday
to end the week higher, boosted by hopes of more stimulus to
shield the world's second-largest economy from the coronavirus
pandemic.
    ** The blue-chip CSI300 index  .CSI300  rose 0.3%, to
3,710.06, while the Shanghai Composite Index  .SSEC  also added
0.3% to 2,772.20.   
    ** For the week, CSI300 gained 1.6%, while SSEC was up 1%,
ending a two-week losing streak. 
    ** The latest dismal economic readings reinforced hopes
Beijing would roll out more monetary and fiscal measures to
bolster its economy.
    ** Profits at China's industrial firms slumped in the first
two months of the year to their lowest in at least a decade,
with the mining, manufacturing and power sectors all seeing
sharp falls as the virus outbreak battered China's economy.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2BK0JO 
    ** "The profit outlook will remain bleak before new stimulus
to aggregate demand," said Xing Zhaopeng, markets economist at
ANZ in Shanghai. "The worldwide lockdowns will continue to weigh
on the economy." 
    ** Also helping lift sentiment in China, leaders of the
Group of 20 major economies pledged on Thursday to inject over
$5 trillion into the global economy to limit job and income
losses from the coronavirus and "do whatever it takes to
overcome the pandemic."  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2BJ5W5  
    ** For the short term, investor concerns over the A-share
market would be substantially alleviated as global capital
markets have already witnessed a recovery, Yan Kaiwen, an
analyst with China Fortune Securities, said in a report.
    ** Mainland China reported its first locally transmitted
coronavirus case in three days and 54 new imported cases, as
Beijing ordered airlines to sharply cut international flights
fearing travellers could reignite the coronavirus outbreak.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2BK068 
    ** China on Thursday ordered local airlines to maintain only
one route to any country and limit flights per such routes to
one per week, effective March 29. Foreign airlines have also
been ordered to cut routes to China to one and limit flights to
one per week, although many had already stopped flying to the
country.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2BJ03R  
    ** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index
 .MIAPJ0000PUS  was firmer by 0.23%, while Japan's Nikkei index
 .N225  closed up 3.88%, as stimulus hopes were bolstered after
U.S. unemployment filings surged to a record.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2BI1VH 
    ** At 0709 GMT, the yuan  CNY=CFXS  was quoted at 7.0723 per
U.S. dollar, 0.03% weaker than the previous close of 7.07. 
    ** As of 0710 GMT, China's A-shares were trading at a
premium of 28.32% over the Hong Kong-listed H-shares. 

 (Reporting by Shanghai Newsroom; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
 ((luoyan.liu@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging:
luoyan.liu.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))