China stocks close slightly higher on recovery signs

SHANGHAI: China stocks edged up at close on Wednesday, after data showed declines in industrial profits were easing on the back of policy support, with the central bank’s vow to bolster the recovery also helping sentiment.

The blue-chip CSI 300 Index and the Shanghai Composite Index both finished 0.2% higher.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.8%, while the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index climbed 0.7%.

The broad Asia stock markets traded mixed and benchmark US Treasury yields were near multi-year highs, as investors sour on both stocks and bonds amid worries about the impact of higher-for-longer interest rates.

Profits at China’s industrial firms fell 11.7% year-on-year for the first eight months, narrowing from a 15.5% contraction for the first seven months, potentially suggesting a modest recovery is beginning to take root for some businesses.

China’s central bank said it would step up policy adjustments and implement monetary policy in a “precise and forceful” manner to support an economy whose recovery was improving with “increasing momentum”.

“We continue to expect a 25bp RRR cut and a 10bp policy interest rate cut in Q4, as well as increased use of structural monetary policy tools such as relending, to facilitate credit extension and promote economic growth,” Goldman Sachs said in a note.

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) reaffirmed its stance of keeping the yuan stable and preventing the risk of currency overshooting, helped the yuan to rebound on Wednesday.

Foreign investors bought a net 1.8 billion yuan ($246.27 million) of Chinese stocks via the Stock Connect on the day.

Shares in healthcare and new energy rose more than 2% each, and construction engineering companies were up 1.4%.

Hong Kong-listed tech giants advanced 0.4%.

The chairman of China Evergrande Group has been placed under police surveillance, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, ratcheting up pressure on the embattled developer whose outlook has already darkened significantly this week. Shares of Evergrande slumped 19 percent.