SHANGHAI: China stocks closed at a fresh 10-year high on Wednesday, led by energy and non-ferrous metal shares, as upbeat earnings and trade headlines boosted investor sentiment ahead of a planned meeting of US and Chinese leaders.
China’s blue-chip CSI300 Index closed up 1.1 percent at its highest level since January 2022, while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.6 percent to end at its strongest since July 2015.
Hong Kong markets were shut for a local holiday.
Hopes are high that US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will agree to a trade war truce in talks in South Korea on Thursday.
Trump said he would discuss Nvidia’s Blackwell artificial-intelligence chip with Xi. Media reports also said Washington is weighing tariff cuts on Chinese goods in exchange for Beijing curbing exports of fentanyl precursor chemicals.
Jeremy Zook, lead analyst for China at Fitch Ratings, expected Washington to cut its effective tariff rate on Chinese goods to about 30 percent from roughly 40 percent, with some relief on fentanyl-related duties.
“It’s unclear how much China wants to continue its great reliance on the US as an export destination.”
China’s CSI New Energy Index rose more than 6 percent, leading gains onshore, after Sungrow Power Supply posted upbeat earnings growth that drove its shares up 15 percent and lifted sector sentiment.
Non-ferrous metals shares jumped nearly 5 percent.
Stocks related to the Nvidia concept broadly rose, with Guochuang Software up 13 percent, following a 5 percent overnight rally in the global chip giant.
Meanwhile, China unveiled a full proposal for its five-year development plan on Tuesday, which suggests the country aims to keep economic growth within a “reasonable range”. UBS economist Zhang Ning thinks that implies a growth target of 4.5 percent-5 percent.
The five-year plan omitted electric vehicles from its list of strategic industries, their first exclusion in more than a decade.
Market reaction was limited as China just concluded its high-stakes plenum last week and vowed to boost consumption and technological innovation.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.