Forex Marketz Daily Forex News – Fully Markets Update
Asian markets: China stocks jump after trading break
HONG KONG — Chinese stocks surged on Thursday, the country’s first day of trade after a one-week holiday. Market players seemed to be cheered following rallies in the U.S. and Europe during the past week.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index jumped 3.9% at one point during the afternoon session. The index ended the day 3% higher at 3,143.357, exceeding the psychologically important 3,100 level for the first time since Sept. 28. Trading volume on the Shanghai index also increased 65% to 258.8 billion yuan ($40.7 billion).
The Shenzhen Composite Index, which was up 4.7% in the afternoon, closed 4% higher at 1,785.392. The two small cap indexes in the Shenzhen index also fared well. The ChiNext index for startups soared 5.2%, while the small and midsize enterprise index climbed 3.8%.
China’s National Bureau of Statistics announced last week that the official Purchasing Managers’ Index rose to 49.8 in September from 49.7 in August. Although the general trend still remained in contraction, the latest data was better than market expectations. There is also speculation that the government is planning stimulus measures, which helped improve investor sentiment.
In the Shanghai market, energy companies were among the major gainers. China Shenhua Energy jumped 4.1%. China Petroleum & Chemical and PetroChina also soared 3.2% and 2.6%, respectively.
Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng Index closed 0.7% lower at 22,354.91. The Hang Seng China Enterprise Index, consisting of mainland Chinese H shares listed in Hong Kong, fell 1% to 10,287.41.
Elsewhere in Asia, results were mixed. Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average fell 1% to 18,141.17, while South Korea’s benchmark Kospi Index increased 0.7% to 2,019.53. Taiwan’s weighted index was down 0.6% at 8,445.96.
The benchmark indexes in Singapore and India were down Thursday afternoon. Stock markets in Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines were flat.
