‘Wholesale policy U-turns’ needed in China, JPMorgan says, as global banks point to economic contraction in second quarter

The Swiss bank said it expected a 1.1 per cent decline in growth to reflect a collapse in consumption and manufacturing since the start of the lockdown in Shanghai in March. JPMorgan, meanwhile, said China’s economic expansion will be negative in the period without giving a specific number, and cautioned against both onshore and offshore stocks. In contrast, a forecast by economists compiled by Bloomberg pointed to 3.3 per cent growth.

“In the second quarter, the China equity-market outlook remains challenging,” said Alex Wolf, head of investment strategy for Asia at JPMorgan. “Lockdown induced supply-chain disruptions and imported inflation from higher commodity prices are all valid concerns that may lead to further earnings and margin deterioration in the second quarter, which may delay the earnings recovery and reopening timetable.”

The bearish calls on growth have led traders to question whether the current bout of sell-offs in stocks has already priced in the worst of China’s economy, which is reeling from a double-whammy of the country’s most severe flare-up in the pandemic in two years and global policy tightening. While some domestic brokerages argued that stocks had already hit rock bottom on prospects of policy loosening, institutional investors ranging from hedge funds to insurance companies have largely refrained from buying, and have kept equity holdings at relatively low levels.