Chinese equities picked up where they left off on Friday, with country-related ETFs leading the charge on Monday, experiencing their best day in over two-and-a-half years.
Among the best performing non-leveraged long ETFs of Monday, the KraneShares MSCI All China Health Care Index ETF (NYSEArca: KURE) advanced 4.6%, KraneShares Bosera MSCI China A ETF (NYSEArca: KBA) jumped 4.3%, WisdomTree China Ex State Owned Enterprises Fund (NasdaqGM: CXSE) surged 4.3% and Xtrackers CSI 300 China A-Shares ETF (NYSEArca: ASHR) increased 4.2%.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index gained over 4%, its best daily performance since March 2016, on a rare concerted effort among senior Chinese officials to prop up the stumbling economy and markets, CNN reports.
The Chinese benchmark is among the world’s worst performers this year, falling off more than 25% since late January on concerns over a global slowdown and the negative impact from an escalating trade war with the U.S. However, investor fears are being assuaged by reassurances from China’s top economic and financial officials.
“It’s rare to see officials make this kind of public comment on the stock market,” Dickie Wong, head of research at stock broker Kingston Financial, told CNN. “It’s definitely boosting market sentiment.”
For instance, central bank chief Yi Gang said on Friday that the recent stock market slump did not reflect economic conditions, which he described as “moving forward” in a stable manner. He added that the government will implement steps to support the economy as well. The heads of China’s securities and banking regulators and President Xi Jinping’s top economic adviser made similar reassurances.
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The comments were made on the heels of official data that showed the Chinese economy expanded 6.5% in the third quarter, its weakest pace since the global financial crisis.
Wong argued that the markets are interpreting the comments as a signal Beijing could step in to prevent any further market meltdown, which wouldn’t be the first time either. During the 2015 market crash, state-run funds came in with large-scale stock purchases to support stocks.
Beyond the comments, Beijing has already implemented some fiscal policies to bolster growth, such as tax cuts and infrastructure spending, along with a looser monetary policy.
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