China, Hong Kong stocks firm as Xi's speech eases trade war fears

Zhuzhou CRRC Times Electric

10/04/2018 06:16

* SSEC +0.5 pct, CSI300 +0.7 pct, HSI +1.1 pct
    * HK->Shanghai Connect daily quota used 11.2 pct,
Shanghai->HK
daily quota used 1.8 pct
    * FTSE China A50 +1.1 pct, BNY Mellon ADR China Select Index
+1.2
pct

    SHANGHAI, April 10 (Reuters) - China and Hong Kong stocks
firmed on Tuesday, as Chinese President Xi Jinping's vow to
further open up the economy in a speech at the Boao forum eased
worries over rising trade tensions between the world's largest
economies.
    On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite index  .SSEC  was up
0.5 percent at 3,154.26, while China's blue-chip CSI300 index
 .CSI300  was up 0.7 percent at 3,879.50.
    Chinese H-shares listed in Hong Kong  .HSCE  rose 1.4
percent to 12,236.79, while the Hang Seng Index  .HSI  was up
1.1 percent at 30,574.45. 
    President Xi on Tuesday promised to further liberalise the
economy and lower import tariffs on products including cars, in
a speech that struck a conciliatory tone on trade tensions
between China and the United States.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1RN1Q2 
    Xi also said China would raise the foreign ownership limit
in the automobile sector as soon as possible and push previously
announced measures to open the financial sector.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1RN1GT 
    Automakers rallied on the mainland after Xi's pledge to open
up the sector.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1RN1MJ  
    His comments follow a week of escalating tariff threats
sparked by U.S. frustration with China's trade and intellectual
property policies.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1RM1DQ 
    "With his speech, Xi is offering a solution to the Sino-U.S.
trade dispute," said Yang Hai, strategist at Kaiyuan Securities,
referring to the pledge to open up Chinese markets, including
financial and auto sectors, while demanding fewer restrictions
on Chinese purchases of high-tech products.
    "Xi's waving an olive branch to the U.S., and the market is
now waiting to see how the U.S. side will play the card in
response," Yang, based in Shaanxi province, added. 
    Yang's view was echoed by David Qu, China markets economist
at ANZ in Shanghai, who said Xi's speech could help lower the
temperature of the "trade war". 
    China's stocks are among fund managers' top picks for 2018
as they bet the United States and China will avert a full-blown
and potentially costly trade war.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1RH1X4 
    Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index
 .MIAPJ0000PUS  was firmer by 0.78 percent while Japan's Nikkei
index  .N225  was up 0.59 percent.
    The yuan  CNY=CFXS  was quoted at 6.297 per U.S. dollar,
0.25 percent firmer than the previous close of 6.3126. 

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 (Reporting by Luoyan Liu and John Ruwitch
Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
 ((luoyan.liu@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging:
luoyan.liu.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))