Daily Report | China stocks jump as deflation shows signs of easing
Mainland consumer price index rose 2.3 per last month, while producer price index fell 4.3 per cent year
Chinese stocks jumped above the 3,000-point level on Monday, reversing a three-day decline, after producer price deflation showed signs of easing in March, while investors also cheered a plan by the country’s top securities regulator to lower net capital ratio for brokerages.
The Shanghai Composite Index advanced 1.6 per cent, or 49 points, to close at 3,033.96. The large-cap CSI300 rose 1.4 per cent, or 44.37 points, to 3,230.10.
The Shenzhen Composite Index improved by 2 per cent, or 38.16 points, to finish at 1,952.48. The Nasdaq-style ChiNext Index swung higher by 2.4 per cent, or 53.21 points, to settle at 2,283.14.
Turnover on Shanghai and Shenzhen markets increased to 667 billion yuan from 585 billion yuan in the previous session.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index ended up 0.4 per cent, or 70.41 points, at 20,440.81 after swinging between gains and losses. The Hang Seng China Enterprise index was 1.2 per cent, or 102.25 points, higher at 8,807.06.
Earlier in the day, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed China’s producer price index fell less than expected by 4.3 per cent from a year earlier in March, easing from a 4.9 per cent decline in February. On a monthly basis, the PPI rose 0.5 per cent, the first month-on-month increase since early 2014.
“This is likely a function of both demand stabilisation, led by the property market and infrastructure investment, as well as the recovery in international commodity prices,” said HSBC analysts Julia Wang and Jing Li in a note on Monday.