China stocks close up ahead of record May Day holiday rush

CHINA stocks rose on Friday (Apr 28) ahead of an expected record-high travel rush over the Labour Day holiday, with information technology (IT) and financials shares leading the gains.

Investor sentiment was also helped after the top decision-making Politburo meeting held on Friday said proactive fiscal policy should be stepped up.

China’s blue-chip CSI300 Index closed up 1 per cent, while the Shanghai Composite Index finished 1.1 per cent higher.

Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng Index edged up 0.3 per cent, while the China Enterprises Index added 0.4 per cent.

For the week, the CSI 300 Index was little changed, while the Hang Seng benchmark slipped 0.9 per cent.

“Investor sentiment stabilised somewhat as consumption recovery stays on track and concerns over Covid-19 resurgence lessen,” Morgan Stanley said in a note.

The brokerage also said the sentiment could incrementally improve further if there is positive holiday data, more signs of corporate earnings revisions bottoming out, and US-China relations stabilizing with signs of direct communication channels being re-established.

Authorities are expecting 19 million trips to be made across China’s vast railway network on Saturday, the first day of the five-day holiday, which would be the highest number of rail trips made in a single day in the country’s history.

Financials firms and consumer staples gained 1.6 per cent and 1.1 per cent, respectively. Ping An Insurance Group of China extended climb following a 10 per cent jump in the previous session on better-than-expected first-quarter earnings.

IT firms climbed 2.4 per cent, while media stocks jumped more than 8 per cent following corrections in previous two sessions, amid frenzy around Chinese equivalents of OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot, where analysts had warned of risks of bubble.

China’s banking and insurance regulator said it would enhance credit support and lower the actual financing costs of small and micro enterprises this year to better support economic recovery.

White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on Thursday the US is not looking to decouple its economy from the Chinese economy, saying, “We’re not cutting off trade.”

Tech giants listed in Hong Kong rose 1 per cent. REUTERS