China A-shares exchange traded funds rallied Friday after the People’s Bank of China cut interest rates for the sixth time in under a year and lowered bank reserve levels to help stimulate a slowing economy.
On Friday, the Deutsche X-trackers Harvest CSI 300 China A-Shares ETF (NYSEArca: ASHR) rose 2.3%, KraneShares Bosera MSCI China A ETF (NYSEArca: KBA) gained 2.3% and Market Vectors ChinaAMC A-Share ETF (NYSEArca: PEK) increased 2.6%. The China A-share ETFs have not broken above their 200-day simple moving averages but are trading above their 50-day simple moving averages. [Dragon Catches Fire: China ETFs Bounce Back]
Supporting the equities markets, Beijing’s monetary policy easing is at its most aggressive since the financial downturn as China, the second largest economy in the world, sees growth slow to a 25-year low of under 7%, reports Koh Gui Qing for Reuters.
For instance, the PBoC is freeing the interest rate market by removing a ceiling on deposit rates, which could allow banks to price loans according to their risks, remove credit pricing distortions and create greater competition among lenders.
Additionally, the central bank also cut one-year benchmark bank lending rates by 25 basis points to 4.35%, the one-year benchmark deposit rate by 25 basis points to 1.5% and the reserve requirement ratio was reduced by 50 basis points for all banks.
“We’ve got half the world’s central banks in easing mode,” said Joe Rundle, the head of trading at ETX Capital in London. “And we’ll probably see more easing from China to come.”
While China continues to lessen its grasp over the markets and implements additional easing measures, the Chinese yuan currency could depreciate against foreign currencies.
Investors who are interested in China domestic market exposure but are also wary of potential currency risks could turn to two recently launched China A-shares ETFs that hedge yuan exposure, the Deutsche X-trackers CSI 300 China A-Shares Hedged Equity ETF (NYSEArca: ASHX) and CSOP MSCI China A International Hedged ETF (NYSEArca: CNHX). ASHX acts like a currency-hedged version of ASHR, and CNHX is a currency-hedged version of KBA. [2 New Currency-Hedged China A-Shares ETFs]
Deutsche X-trackers Harvest CSI 300 China A-Shares ETF
For more information on the Chinese markets, visit our China category.
Max Chen contributed to this article.