Shanghai stock benchmark breaches 4,000 for first time in 10 years ahead of Trump-Xi meet

SHANGHAI: Mainland China and Hong Kong stocks rose on Tuesday, with the Shanghai benchmark crossing a key threshold for the first time in more than a decade, buoyed by optimism over a potential trade deal ahead of a meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping.

• The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.21% to 4,005.44 points by the midday break, breaching the key 4,000 points for the first time since August 2015.

• The blue-chip CSI300 Index gained 0.22%.

• Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng Index added 0.01%.

• Investors are heading into this week’s trade talks between the US and Chinese leaders with a sense of deja vu, excited by the proclamations of a truce and apprehensive that the real deal may offer far less to celebrate.

• US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, are expected to meet in South Korea on Thursday.

• “The Trump-Xi meeting later this week may show further signs of de-escalation, but the pattern of ‘escalate and de-escalate’ will continue in the future,” said Larry Hu, chief China economist at Macquarie. “Both sides could walk back from the agreements, if something comes up in the future. Meanwhile, no competitive edge in trade war can last forever.”

• Innovation and technological self-reliance will remain Beijing’s top priority in the next five years amid the US-China competition, Hu added.

• The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) will “maintain its supportive monetary policy stance and implement moderately loose monetary measures,” Governor Pan Gongsheng said on Monday, reaffirming the central bank’s current policy stance.

• The China Securities Regulatory Commission launched a new plan on Monday to streamline the qualified foreign investor regime, introducing measures to ease access requirements, improve operational efficiency and expand the investment scope.