China stocks rally on stimulus hopes, trade talks; Hong Kong up

China stocks rallied on Thursday, boosted by hopes Beijing will cut a key ratio to shore up the economy, while another round of talks between China and the U.S. in October aided sentiment. The CSI300 index rose 1.6% to 3,948.99 at the end of the morning session, while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 1.6% to 3,003.44. China will implement both broad and targeted cuts in the reserve requirement ratio (RRR) for banks "in a timely manner," China's cabinet said in a meeting on Wednesday, an indication that a cut in the key ratio aimed at boosting lending could be imminent.

"There is room for cutting RRR and it's necessary to do so," said Wen Bin, economist at Minsheng Bank. "China's investment and consumption face downward pressure. It's necessary to cut RRR for all banks to support the real economy." Meanwhile, China and the United States agreed to hold high-level trade talks in early October in Washington, China's commerce ministry said on Thursday, amid fears that an escalating trade war could trigger a global economic recession.

Many of China's analysts believe the negative impact on the A-share market from the Sino-U.S. trade war would marginally decrease with time, as Beijing rolls out more measures to boost the economy at a time when A-shares' valuations are reasonable and more international money flows in as the country further opens up its capital markets. JPMorgan will add Chinese government bonds to its widely-tracked emerging market local currency bond index from February 2020 — a decision expected to suck billions into the world's third-largest bond market.

Major index providers MSCI and FTSE Russell will announce further increased inclusion factors for the A-share market later this year. In Hong Kong, gains were subdued following a surge the previous session. The Hang Seng index added 0.4% to 26,624.25, while the Hong Kong China Enterprises Index gained 1.4% to 10,431.31. Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said on Thursday she hopes the formal withdrawal of a controversial extradition bill and other measures will help solve the city's political crisis.

Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was firmer by 1%, while Japan's Nikkei index was up 2.23%. The yuan was quoted at 7.1337 per U.S. dollar, 0.16% firmer than the previous close of 7.145. The largest percentage gainers on the main Shanghai Composite index were Xishui Strong Year Co Ltd Inner Mongolia, up 10.06%, followed by Hefei Metalforming Intelligent Manufacturing Co Ltd, gaining 10.02% and Fujian Apex Software Co Ltd, up by 10.01%. 

The largest percentage losers on the Shanghai index were Beijing Xinwei Technology Group Co Ltd, down 5.05%, followed by FUREN Group Pharmaceutical Co Ltd, losing 5.01%, and Guangzhou Kingmed Diagnostics Group Co Ltd , down by 3.3%.

The top gainers among H-shares were Haitong Securities Co Ltd, up 6.43%, followed by CITIC Securities Co Ltd , gaining 4.99% and Huatai Securities Co Ltd, up by 4.97%. The three biggest H-shares percentage decliners were Guangdong Investment Ltd, down 1.11%, ENN Energy Holdings Ltd, which has lost 0.8% and China Resources Beer Holdings Co Ltd, which declined by 0.8%. As of 04:16 GMT, China's A-shares were trading at a premium of 28.31% over the Hong Kong-listed H-shares.

Also Read: UPDATE 1-U.S. commander says cracks in Asian alliances a worry amid N.Korea, China threats

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)