On October 10, the Hong Kong stock market experienced a significant surge. The Hang Seng Index (HSI) rose by 2.98%, the Hang Seng Tech Index (HSTECH) climbed by 2.05%.
China’s central bank is moving ahead with a 500-billion-yuan swap facility to let securities, fund and insurance firms get liquid assets for their stock purchases, part of a broad stimulus package announced earlier that ignited a rally in equities.
Several industry sectors saw notable gains. The Brewers sector led the charge with a 7.61% increase, followed closely by Automotive Retail at 7.29%, Copper at 6.80%, Oil & Gas Drilling at 6.72%, and Hotels Resorts & Cruise Lines at 6.36%.
Among individual stocks, China Railway Construction stood out with a remarkable 10.91% increase. China Resources Beer also saw a significant rise of 10.42%. Sunac surged by 17.33%, making it one of the top performers of the day. China Communications Construction gained 10.52%, and NCI increased by 10.36%.
In other notable movements, Geely Auto rose by 9.34%; Sinopec SSC saw a 9.09% increase; Yankuang Energy climbed 8.82%; Trip.com-S rose 8.48%; XPeng-W gained 8.00%; MEITUAN-W rose 5%; HAITONG SEC soared 95%.
Investors also awaited the outcome of the government’s planned briefing on fiscal policy on Saturday.
Traders are pinning hopes that the finance ministry briefing will bring more catalysts to sustain a rally that began late September after Beijing unveiled a barrage of monetary stimulus. Big fiscal measures have been missing from the package so far, and money managers and strategists have warned that the rebound may be another false dawn if pledges aren’t backed up with real money.
Finance Minister Lan Fo’an is expected to introduce moves to strengthen fiscal policy to shore up growth, and answer questions from reporters at a briefing that will start at 10 a.m. local time on Saturday, according to the State Council Information Office.
“Investors are still holding out hope for an announcement from the Ministry of Finance that approves additional government bond issuance on top of this year’s budget to support fiscal spending,” said Jeffrey Kleintop, chief global investment strategist at Charles Schwab & Co. “The hurdle is high for the MOF to deliver on the market’s expectations.”
Bernstein Societe Generale Group’s Asia quant strategists on Thursday retained a tactical overweight stance on China in anticipation of “some concrete announcements” either at the finance ministry’s Saturday briefing or after the US election.
The ministry “will likely discuss a supplementary fiscal package for the remainder of the year, although it may be modest in size,” Morgan Stanley economists led by Robin Xing wrote in a note. Economists at Societe Generale SA also said the government is unlikely to announce a “super-sized fiscal stimulus” of 5 trillion yuan to 10 trillion yuan in one go.
“The size and scope of the next package could disappoint, especially if it remains modest,” said Billy Leung, an investment strategist at Global X Management in Sydney. “Investors are likely to remain on the edge, with volatility continuing as they wait for clearer forward guidance on the 2025 fiscal outlook. We’ll see more of this back-and-forth until there’s clarity on Beijing’s commitment.”
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