China, Hong Kong stocks arrest US$1.4 trillion slump but market pessimism stays near the depth of pandemic scare
- Key stock benchmarks in mainland China and Hong Kong advanced after an overnight rally in US technology stocks as risk appetite recovered
- A sell-off over the past four days has pushed technical ‘oversold’ readings close to the levels seen during the depth of Covid-19 pandemic a year ago
The CSI300 Index, which tracks some of the biggest stocks in Shanghai and Shenzhen, added 0.7 per cent at the close, after earlier rising as much as 1.7 per cent. The gauge plunged by almost 9 per cent in the preceding four days.
The Shanghai Composite fell less than 0.1 per cent to 3,357.74, while the tech-heavy ChiNext gained 1.6 per cent. The Hang Seng Index gained 0.5 per cent to 28,907.52, also paring a bigger advance of 1.7 per cent. The gauge had fallen 3.7 per cent from March 3 through yesterday.
“The market is still in a wait-and-see situation,” said Castor Pang Wai-sun, head of research at investment services firm Core Pacific-Yamaichi. The rebound in US stock and bond prices helped alleviate concerns about interest rate hikes in the short-term, he added.
Liquor distiller Kweichow Moutai rose 1.7 per cent to 1,970.01 yuan in Shanghai, after falling 1.2 per cent on Tuesday. China Tourism Group Duty Free rose 6.1 per cent to 299.62 yuan.
