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Stocks surge on stimulus rumor

By Zhou Yan (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-03-05 07:54

The mainland stock market surged by over 6 percent yesterday to a four-month high on speculation that Premier Wen Jiabao may announce another round of fiscal measures worth 8 trillion yuan at the opening ceremony of the National People's Congress (NPC) today.

"Wen will announce a new stimulus package in his annual address to the national legislature," Li Deshui, former head of the National Bureau of Statistics, was quoted by Bloomberg.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index jumped 6.12 percent, or 126.68 points, to finish at 2,198.11, while the smaller Shenzhen Component Index rose 6.91 percent, or 532.07 points, to end at 8,227.69.

Only three stocks declined in yesterday's trading session. The combined turnover on the two bourses more than doubled from Tuesday's trade, to 195.7 billion yuan.

"The likely new stimulus measures indicate government's determination to boost investment spending, and recent positive figures from the macro-economic front also showed signs of recovery in fundamentals," said Xu Wei, an analyst with Guojin Securities.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the country's Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) rose for the third consecutive month, to gain 3.7 percent, to 49 percent in February from January.

"The January-February average of 47.2 percent (in PMI)... suggested that the sharp pace of decline in industrial activity during earlier months had indeed moderated somewhat in the current quarter, reflecting the impact of the government's growth-supportive policies," noted Wang Qian, an economist at JP Morgan.

Recent media reports said Chinese banks may extend new yuan loans in February to 1.1 trillion yuan, following the 1.6 trillion yuan outgo in January.

Cheered by the news, all shares in the financial sector rallied yesterday, led by China's second largest insurer Ping An Insurance, with a 10.02 percent advance to its daily trading limit. Rival China Life advanced 7.94 percent to end at 21.35 yuan.

Pudong Development Bank surged 9.98 percent, while Industrial and Commercial Bank of China was up 4.93 percent yesterday.

The rise of commercial housing transactions in Shenzhen and Guangzhou during February sent all shares in the property sector higher. Shenzhen-based real estate developers China Merchants Property Development and Gemdale Group surged to its daily caps to close at 19.35 yuan and 8.93 yuan respectively. Poly Real Estate rose 8.92 percent to 19.91 yuan.