The Shanghai Composite Index traded at 1.5 times net assets Thursday, the cheapest since 2014, after shares sank more than 20% from a January high. Some investors saw the rout as an opportunity to pick up cheap shares, with Australia's UniSuper Management Pty and Chinese hedge fund Shanghai Chongyang Investment Management Co. saying they were adding to positions.
The improvement in sentiment in the session came in spite of Friday's developments on the trade front when U.S. tariffs on $34 billion in Chinese goods took effect, ramping up the country's ongoing trade spat with China. China followed up by promptly imposing duties of its own on the same value of U.S. products. China's Ministry of Commerce said it had no choice but to respond to the U.S. after the latter "launched the largest trade war in economic history." U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that an additional $16 billion of Chinese goods would be subject to tariffs in two weeks, and that he was considering further slapping duties on an additional $500 billion in Chinese products.
NEWS Headline:- Regulator acts tough on market violations -- The securities regulator has continued to crack down on capital market violations, meting out more administrative penalties in the first half of the year. The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) handed out 159 administrative penalties in the first half, up 41% year on year, CSRC Vice Chairman Yan Qingmin said. A total of 6.4 billion yuan (US$965 million) in fines or confiscation orders were imposed, a record high, Yan said. The crackdown on the capital market is part of efforts to ensure financial stability and prevent risk.
Shenzhen-listed firms see 12-41% profit growth --- A total of 1,010 companies listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange released profit forecasts for the first half of the year, projecting an 11.7-40.7% increase in combined net earnings. Their net profits were forecast to total 154.5-194.7 billion yuan (US$23.4 billion-US$29.4 billion), according to the Shenzhen exchange. A total of 928 out of the 1,010 firms forecast that they made profits in the first half, it said. Provided at the lower end of their guidance ranges, 596 firms, or 59%, would report year-on-year net profit growth. A total of 245 firms would report profit growth of more than 30%.
CURRENCY: Chinese yuan strengthened against greenback, despite soft mid-point fixing by central bank. The central parity rate of the Chinese currency renminbi, or the yuan, weakened 57 basis points to 6.6393 against the U.S. dollar Monday, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System. The yuan's offshore value rose by as much as 0.5% to 6.6288 per US dollar on Monday, heading for its biggest daily advance since May 10. The currency's onshore value was as strong as 6.6221 per dollar on the same day.
China's foreign exchange reserves rose $1.51 billion in June to $3.112 trillion due to asset price changes, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) said on Monday. The increase in reserves came even as the Chinese currency's offshore value deteriorated by 3.3% against the US dollar in June, the biggest monthly decline since 1994 when China pegged the yuan against the greenback.
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