Live | China Markets Live - Shanghai reels from last-hour selling to end lower, Shenzhen barely up at close and Hong Kong settles lower
The intense volatility of recent weeks has every chance of remaining the core underlying theme of activity. Investors are increasingly focused the broader question of how this episode might affect the wider economy.
Welcome to the SCMP's live markets blog. The intense volatility of recent weeks has every chance of remaining the core underlying theme of activity. Investors are increasingly focused the broader question of how this episode might affect the wider economy as many suspect the equity bubble has yet to fully deflate. We'll bring you the key levels, trading statements, price action and other developments as they happen.
Here’s a summary of market action Friday and today, with analyst views:
- Shanghai crumbles from late selling to end sharply lower
- Shenzhen shares finish up, but nearly gives up all of its gains
- Hong Kong settles weaker, down by 1.23 per cent
- China's forex reserves seen falling sharply in month of August
- Investors look toward next meeting next week by US Federal Reserve to see if they will decide on raising interest rates
4:12pm: China’s foreign exchange reserve declined 2.4 per cent, or US$90 billion, to US$3.56 trillion in August from the previous month, in line with market expectations. The reserve has been on steady decline since June 2014 when it peaked at US$3.99 trillion.
4:06pm: The Hang Seng Index closed lower Monday. The index shed 1.23 per cent, 257.09 points, to close at 20,583.52. The H-share index dipped 0.72 per cent, 66.37 points, to 9,103.22.
3:47pm: Mainland Chinese market haveclosed for the day. In charts below, the Shanghai Composite Index (yellow), Shenzhen Composite Index (purple), CSI300 (green) and ChiNext (blue). Click to enlarge.
3:16pm: CRÉDIT AGRICOLE CORPORATE AND INVESTMENT BANK comments on G20 communique that reiterated countries should refrain from competitive currency devaluation.
“The question remains whether the [official] comments and measures will help restore market confidence and encourage investors to buy risk again. Judging by the lukewarm market response so far, the answer seems to be that more is needed to contain the risk selloff. We therefore remain cautious on risk as a result.
The safe havens EUR, JPY and CHF lost some ground at the start of the week. The single currency remains particularly vulnerable after the dovish September ECB meeting. The biggest beneficiaries should be the USD and GBP.
Indeed, more evidence that policy makers outside the US and the UK are taking steps to avoid sharp risk selloff could increase the chances for a Fed hike before long and a BoE hike, next year.
While some cautiousness on GBP could prevail ahead of the BoE meeting and minutes release, we think that now may a good time to re-enter short EUR/GBP positions. Risks for EUR/USD should remain on the downside as well.”
3:06pm: Mainland markets closed down Monday following heavy selling in the final hour before the closing bell.
