On Monday, Chinese stocks rose sharply, led by technology stocks, as news of a new stock exchange in Beijing and other market-friendly sentiments from government officials buoyed investor sentiment. The stock market in Hong Kong was also up.
Chinese equities jump on plans of a new exchange
At the end of the morning session, the CSI300 index was up 1.9% to 4,936.15 points, with the Shanghai Composite Index gaining 1% to 3,618.31 points. The Hang Seng index increased 0.5%, with the Hong Kong China Enterprises Index also increasing by 0.4%.
Over the weekend, China unveiled plans for the new Beijing Stock Exchange, which would be based on New Third Board (NTB). Following the announcement, index-tracking key companies listed on Beijing’s NTB jumped over 12%. Interestingly, Shanghai’s STAR Market and Shenzhen’s start-up board ChiNext were both up by over 2%.
In a note, Citi said, “We believe the new Beijing Stock Exchange (BSE) offers a reassuring message that China will continue to support technologically innovative small- and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) to tap capital markets for financing. We think the pre-planned messages from senior financial officials reaffirming the opening of financial markets and liberalization agenda are also intended to allay concerns on whether China’s capital markets are still investible for foreign financial institutions (FIs).”
The government wants to support the private economy
Chinese Vice Prime Minister Liu He stated that there is a need to support the private economy. Liu added, “Guidelines and policies for supporting the private economy have not changed…and will not change in the future.”
The official China Daily reported that financial regulators and central banks vowed over the weekend to enhance the financial sector’s opening level through institutional arrangements optimization and regulation enhancement.
Following the announcement, the financials and energy subindices in Hong Kong rose 0.6% and 0.7%, respectively. BYD Co Ltd gained 5.7%, becoming the Hang Seng Index’s top daily gainer after the carmaker increased its new energy vehicle sales volume.
