NewChina's securities regulator pledges long-term market support
Mainland securities regulator's vow to keep the volatile market stabilised for a number of years sees shares close 5.9 per cent stronger on the week
Mainland stocks edged up on Friday after the securities regulator made a long-term commitment to stabilising the volatile market for a "number of years".
The China Securities Regulatory Commission said the state-backed China Securities Finance Corp, which is tasked with buying shares on behalf of the government, would have an enduring role.
"For a number of years to come, the [CSF] will not exit [the market]. Its function to stabilise the market will not change," the CSRC said in a statement on its microblog.
The CSF has played a crucial role in Beijing's stock market rescue, which was launched after the Shanghai Composite Index crashed 30 per cent in three weeks from mid-June.
The index on Friday closed 0.27 per cent firmer, capping its biggest weekly gain - of 5.91 per cent - in two months as investors bet the surprise devaluation of the yuan and a spate of poor economic data augured more measures from Beijing to boost sagging economic growth.
The Shenzhen Composite Index rose 0.5 per cent, while the CSI 300 of large-cap stocks and the emerging technology-heavy ChiNext both declined by less than 0.5 per cent. All posted weekly gains of between 3 and 6 per cent.
"The stock market had a very positive week on the back of relatively poor economic data, something that it is not that infrequent in the Chinese market," said Gerry Alfonso, a Shanghai-based broker at Shenwan Hongyuan Securities. "The yuan depreciation, which has significant economic implications and attracted considerable media coverage both internationally and domestically, had a relatively small impact on the equity market."