China: Shares rise on hopes big sums could enter the market

[HONG KONG] China stocks rose on Friday as state media tried to coax wary investors back into the market, indicating trillions of yuan funds were available to deploy to boost the market.

The CSI300 index rose nearly 2 per cent for the day to 3,906.94, ending the week up 2.4 per cent, its biggest weekly gain since July 10.

The Shanghai Composite Index gained 2.3 per cent to 3,744.41, ending the week up 2.2 per cent in its best week since July 24.

Close to 300 China funds that oversee more than 1 trillion yuan (US$161 billion) are sitting on the sidelines with"ammunition" to enter the stock markets at any time, the Shanghai Securities News reported on Friday, citing its own calculations.

The Chinese government agency tasked with buying stocks to prop up the country's wobbling markets is seeking an additional 2 trillion yuan (US$322 billion) in funds, according to a Bloomberg report.

In the weeks since mid-June, A shares have lost more than 26 per cent of their value.

In recent weeks, Beijing has rolled out an unprecedented series of support measures, including cajoling Chinese brokerages and pension funds to buy stocks and cracking down on short-selling.

While the aggressive moves seem to have halted panic selling and tamed wild daily shares price swings, traders said shaken investors would be slow to return to the market, if they returned at all. Others noted that the government will have to withdraw from the market at some point, which could trigger a fresh slide.

Goldman Sachs analysts estimate that the "national team" has potentially spent 860-900 billion yuan to support the stock market in June-July and the potential aggregate size of market-support funds is probably around 2 trillion yuan.

Among the most active stocks in Shanghai was China Shipbuilding Industry, up nearly 3 per cent at 14.29 yuan, and China National Nuclear Power, up 3.2 per cent at 11.11 yuan.

Among the most traded in Shenzhen, Wanxiang Qianchao rose 5.7 per cent to 21.70 yuan, and East Money Information was up 6.7 per cent at 46.71 yuan.

REUTERS