SHANGHAI: China stocks jumped more than 2% on Wednesday, led by consumer and tech shares as investors welcomed a Politburo meeting that stressed the need to boost consumption, and the appointment of a new vice chairman at the securities regulator.
Sentiment was also lifted by a firmer yuan ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s policy decision later in the day, where it is expected to pave the way for an interest rate cut in September.
The blue-chip CSI 300 Index and the Shanghai Composite Index closed up roughly 2.1% each, with the CSI 300 logging the biggest one-day gain in more than five months. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index finished up 2%.
The tone was supported by a meeting of China’s Politburo on Tuesday, where leaders stressed the need to focus on boosting consumption, deviating from their usual playbook of pouring funds into infrastructure projects.
“Previous policies were ineffective. This time, the leaders hit the nail on the head: consumption,” said Yang Tingwu, vice general manager of Tongheng Investment.
“This marks the first time the Politburo meeting mentioned counter-cyclical adjustments since July last year, a potential signal that the leadership is aware of the headwinds faced by the economy,” Ting Lu, chief China economist at Nomura said in a note.
However, for the month, the CSI 300 was down 0.6%, and the Hang Seng slumped 4%, with investors concerned about the country’s fragile economic recovery. Data on Wednesday showed China’s manufacturing activity slipped to a five-month nadir in July.
Investors drew inspiration from news that a law enforcement official will replace western-educated Fang Xinghai as vice chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission.
Li Ming, chief of the CSRC’s enforcement bureau, will replace Fang, the regulator announced late on Tuesday.
Stanford-educated Fang has been an advocate of market reform and opening, and has helped introduced a slew of derivative products.
“Many short-selling tools were introduced under Fang’s watch, and his removal galvanized the market,” said Yang, the fund manager.
“Today’s market was lifted by both fundamental and sentimental factors.” China’s healthcare and consumer stocks jumped 4.8% and 3.7%, respectively, as investors expect fresh policies to boost consumption and improve the country’s social safety net.
The tech-focused STAR Market and Shenzhen’s start-up board ChiNext also rose 4.7% and 3.4%, respectively.
Some analysts, however, added a note of caution.
The signal from the Politburo meeting to boost consumption “is an encouraging direction, but it’s not clear if the call will translate into concrete policies,” Gavekal Dragonomics wrote in a note.
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