(Bloomberg) — Equities in China and Hong Kong rebounded from last week’s selloff as traders reassess an outlook for further stimulus and the country’s guidance on boosting corporate valuation.
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The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index rose as much as 2.2% Monday, following a loss of more than 6% last week. Financial stocks such as China Everbright Bank Co. fueled the gain, with the sector’s gauge in Hong Kong rising the most in a month.
Shares of some Chinese state-owned companies with a price-to-book ratio below one also advanced. The China Securities Regulatory Commission released guidelines on Friday, prodding companies to come up with valuation enhancement plans that are “clear, specific, and executable,” according to its statement.
Chinese stocks’ rally has cooled in recent week due to concerns over persistent deflationary pressures and geopolitical tensions following Donald Trump’s win in the US election. But some investors remain hopeful around China’s encouraging economic data and a bet that further stimulus measures are coming to shore up the world’s second largest economy.
“The document itself is a continuation of Beijing’s effort to stabilize the market for the short term, and in the medium term to cut loopholes and enhance market efficiency,” Siguo Chen, a portfolio manager at RBC BlueBay Asset Management, said, referring to the CSRC’s statement. “I don’t think this will have an immediate impact other than sentiment.”
The securities regulator’s announcement follows similar efforts by its regional peers, such as Japan and South Korea. Japan’s campaign to raise corporate value has propelled its equity benchmarks to multi-decade highs. Korea also recently launched its Value-Up Index, a key plank of the government’s push for better corporate governance and improved shareholder returns.
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