SHANGHAI: China stocks fell on Wednesday following a recent recovery, dragged down by fears that policies announced by Beijing would not be enough to revive the coronavirus-battered economy.
China’s blue-chip index CSI300, which had bounced more than 6% from a April 27 low, ended the session 0.4% lower. The Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.3%.
The market had rebounded on signs China was rolling out more stimulus to aid an economy ravaged by the country’s biggest COVID-19 outbreak in two years.
But Morgan Stanley said in its mid-year outlook that it expects China’s 2022 growth to come in at a below-target 5.2%, with the drag from the COVID-zero strategy “only partially offset by broad-based easing” as signalled in the Politburo meeting.
Property shares, which had rebounded on signs of policy easing, fell on gloomy April data.
“Housing prices dropped in more cities in April. The sector is going through a crisis,” said Zhiwei Zhang, president and chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management.
“The government policy has turned more supportive but not overwhelmingly so ... It is not clear when the housing sector will rebound.”
Sentiment was further dampened by data showing foreign investors cut their holdings of Chinese yuan-denominated bonds for the third consecutive month in April, the longest such stretch on record.
Bucking the trend, China’s tech-heavy STAR50 index, home to Chinese chipmakers and high-end manufacturers, rose 0.4%.
Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He soothed tech sector’s nerves on Tuesday, saying the government supported the development of the sector, and wanted the battle for “key core technologies” to be fought well.
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