Stocks in China charged 3% higher Monday, recovering from their worst week in five years to lead gains across Asia after the country’s central bank cut interest rates to help the sluggish economy.
Underscoring the volatile nature of the market, the Shanghai Composite Index registered muted gains in the morning, but rocketed up in the afternoon to add to a more than 2% rebound Friday. Investors were cheering a quarter percentage point cut to benchmark lending and deposit rates, an attempt by Beijing to spur borrowing and help indebted companies, NewsNow reported.
Shanghai’s gains lifted other markets in the region. The Hang Seng Index was up 0.5%, rebounding from a 2% loss last week. Tokyo’s Nikkei Stock Average was up 1.3% at 19620.91, following two straight weeks of losses.
The pop Monday is just one example of how China shares have been buffeted in recent months by the central bank’s easing moves, which include three interest rate cuts and two cuts to banks’ reserve requirement ratios, as well as headlines on Beijing’s attitude toward the market and its reform plans.
The last time the Shanghai market jumped more than 3% in one day was in late April, on local news reports that China was planning a new wave of mergers in the state sector to eliminate inefficiencies in the largest part of the economy.
Shanghai is up 74% since late November, when the central bank first cut interest rates in the current easing cycle. Analysts say the positive effects on the market are wearing off with each measure.
Europe Bonds Drop
Spanish and Italian bonds retreated amid concern that Greece will struggle to secure more aid, while Airbus Group NV led French stocks lower. Asian equities gained after China’s central bank cut interest rates for the third time in six months.
The yield on 10-year bonds from Spain and Italy rose at least five basis points by 8:10 a.m. in London, while similar German bunds and Treasuries were little changed. The euro was 0.2 percent weaker and New Zealand’s dollar lost 1.3 percent. The CAC 40 Index dropped 1 percent as Airbus slumped after a crash. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.4 percent and the Shanghai Composite Index jumped 3 percent. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures fluctuated.
Euro-area finance ministers meet Monday as resistance to further help for Greece builds. China is bolstering stimulus as data signal the world’s second-largest economy may struggle to meet its official growth target of about 7 percent. U.S.-payroll growth in April came in just below estimates, while the March gain was revised down to the lowest since 2012, further pushing back estimates for when the Federal Reserve may increase rates.
