Chinese stocks ended mixed on Wednesday, giving a lukewarm welcome to FTSE Russell’s reception of mainland-listed equities into its indexes ahead of a fresh flood of new share offerings.
The CSI300 index of the largest listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen fell 0.3 per cent to 5,181.43, while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.6 per cent to 4,941.71 points.
Index provider FTSE Russell had said after Tuesday’s market close that it would launch two transitional indexes that include China A shares — a staggered approach that would bring local Chinese shares into its global emerging markets benchmark in two to three years.
Analysts said that the launch of the indexes, which will have an initial weighting of 5 per cent for China A shares — would have limited impact on China’s stock market.
There are signs, however, that after the recent strong rally, some investors are taking profit, while others are reducing their holdings before a wave of initial public offerings (IPO).
Next week, 23 companies, including nuclear giant China National Nuclear Power Co Ltd, will start taking IPO subscriptions. Some analysts expect this to freeze nearly 5 trillion yuan ($805.9 billion) of liquidity.
But investors got some comfort from economic data showing Chinese industrial sector profits in April had their first annual rise since September, seen as evidence by some that China’s economy could be bottoming out.
Military sector stocks remained bullish, after Beijing on Tuesday outlined an ambitious defence strategy.
Defence-related firms, including China Satellite and Sichuan Chengfei Technology Integration, surged for a second day.
($1 = 6.2039 Chinese yuan)
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.