China-related exchange traded funds climb after Beijing announced a new round of economic stimulus measures ahead of trade talks with Washington D.C.
Among China-related ETFs, technology-heavy strategies were leading the charge Friday, with the Invesco Golden Dragon China ETF (NasdaqGM: PGJ) up 6.4%, KraneShares CSI China Internet Fund (NasdaqGM: KWEB) 6.2% higher and Invesco China Technology ETF (NYSEArca: CQQQ) up 5.4%.
Meanwhile, the CSI 300, a widely observed benchmark for Chinese equities, ended 2.4% higher, rebounding from its three-year low.
Chinese premier Li Keqiang urged banks to increase lending to the private sector while the People’s Bank of China cut a key reserve ratio to encourage lending from commercial banks, the Financial Times reports.
The PBoC’s cut in the reserve ratio would put a net cash injection of Rmb800bn, or $117bn, into the economy, which was at the high end of analysts’ expectations. It was also the biggest net cash infusion in five similar measures since January to counter the growth slowdown.
The action “supports our view that there won’t be a sharp deceleration in the Chinese economy this year and that fears of a major global slowdown are overdone,” Geoffrey Yu, head of the UK Investment Office at UBS Wealth Management, told the Financial Times.
The stimulus measures came after Beijing said government officials will on Monday hold their first formal trade talks with the U.S. since the world’s two largest economies came to a tentative ceasefire in the trade war.
“From a stock market perspective, with a lot of negative news already priced in, we could realistically hope that the absence of further negatives may at least lead to some stabilisation in equity prices,” Colin Morton, a portfolio manager at Franklin Templeton Investments, told the Financial Times.
For more information on the Chinese markets, visit our China category.