INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
HONG KONG: China stocks ended higher on Tuesday as Beijing and Washington appeared to edge closer to a trade deal, but worries about
economic headwinds at home tamed the market's rise
At the close, the Shanghai Composite index was up 1.1 per cent at 3,060.31 points while the blue-chip CSI300 index was up 0.7 per cent
CSI300's financial sector sub-index was higher by 0.6 per cent, the consumer staples sector fell 0.4 per cent, healthcare shares rose 0.1
The smaller Shenzhen index ended up 1.7 per cent and the start-up board ChiNext Composite index was higher by 2.6 per cent
Chinese Vice Premier Liu He held a telephone call with US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer
on key issues in their trade talks on Tuesday, Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported in early trade
Aided by optimism around the trade talks, valuations of Chinese stocks have ticked up this year, though the market remains one of the
cheapest in Asia, Refinitiv data showed
"The major driver (for rally) is the recovery in valuations," analysts at Huatai Securities, who see the Shanghai Composite Index steadying
between 2,800 and 3,000 points, wrote in a note on Tuesday
"But for the index to go further, (economic) fundamentals need to co-operate."
China will release a slew of economic data on Thursday,
including industrial output, retail sales and fixed-asset investment for the combined January and February
Data on Monday showed China's automobile sales fell 13.8 per cent in February from the same month a year earlier, marking the eighth
consecutive month of decline
Sources told Reuters that the People's Bank of China was studying the potential impact of interest rate overhaul to loan pricing, just as
speculation grows over whether the central bank will cut interest rates soon to support the slowing economy
China may increase its tolerance for non-performing loans at small companies in order to help spur their growth, the state-backed Securities
Times newspaper quoted a senior official from the banking regulator as saying on Tuesday
Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was firmer by 0.9 per cent while Japan's Nikkei index closed up 1.8 per cent
At 07:18 GMT, the yuan was quoted at 6.7145 per US dollar, 0.2 per cent firmer than the previous close of 6.7279
The largest percentage gainers on the main Shanghai Composite index were JiShi Media Co Ltd, Huayi Electric Co Ltd and Shenyang Jinshan
Energy Co Ltd, all up by 10.1 per cent
The Shanghai stock index is above its 50-day moving average and above its 200-day moving average
So far this year, the Shanghai stock index is up 22.7 per cent and the CSI300 has risen 24.7 per cent
Shanghai stocks have risen 4.1 per cent this month
About 51.1 billion shares were traded on the Shanghai exchange
The volume in the previous trading session was 42.6 billion
