China Stocks extend gains

Headline indices of the Mainland China equity market inclined on Wednesday, 28 November 2018, as investors risk sentiments improved on hope China can work toward resolving their trade-related differences at the upcoming G20 Summit at the end of the week. Market gains were however limited after official data showed profit growth at China's industrial firms slumped for a sixth straight month in October as demand cooled further amid uncertainties stemming from the Sino-U.S. trade war. In afternoon trades, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index added 0.83%, or 21.38 points, to 2,596.06, meanwhile the Shenzhen Composite Index, which tracks stocks on China's second exchange, added 0.8%, or 10.41 points, to 1,347.08. The blue-chip CSI300 index rose 1.25%, or 39.29 points, to 3,176.53.

Investors are looking ahead to the Group of 20 summit beginning Friday when President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to meet and discuss trade issues. The summit will be watched closely for how relations between both countries develop, in addition to further news surrounding Sino-US trade. China's main goal at the G20 meeting is to get the United States to refrain from raising the tariffs in January. Trump is open to a deal with China but is ready to impose more tariffs if the upcoming talks don't yield progress.

 

NEWS FROM THE PRESS: Industrial profit growth cools in October - China's industrial profits rose 3.6 percent in October from a year earlier, slowing from September's 4.1-percent gain, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Tuesday. Total profits for last month were 548 billion yuan (US$79.4 billion). The expansion was the slowest since March as the world's second-largest economy braced for weaker growth due to the trade war plus efforts to rein in financial risks and tackle pollution problems. For the first 10 months, profits for China's industrial firms rose 13.6 percent from a year earlier to 5.5 trillion yuan, versus a 14.7-percent increase in the January-September period, yesterday's data showed. Profits in the January-October period totalled 1.67 trillion yuan for State-owned enterprises and 1.41 trillion yuan for private firms. At the end of October, industrial firms' liabilities increased 5.9 percent from a year earlier to 63.7 trillion yuan, according to the statistics bureau.

Soy imports from Brazil double in October - China's soybean imports from Brazil nearly doubled in October from a year earlier, customs data showed Monday, as buyers scooped up shipments on worries over shortages amid trade tensions with the United States, a major supplier. China typically buys most of its soybeans from the United States in the fourth quarter, when American shipments dominate the market after the U.S. harvest and as Brazilian crops are still maturing. Chinese importers are now avoiding U.S. soybeans, however, because of concerns of additional curbs following the 25-percent tariff that China imposed on U.S. beans July 6 in response to U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods. China imported 6.53 million tons of Brazilian soybeans in October, up from 3.38 million tons in the same month last year, according to data released Monday by the General Administration of Customs. The volume, 94 percent of China's total imports of the oilseed of 6.92 million tons for October, were down from 7.59 million tons in September, as buying ebbed due to large stockpiles. Chinese soybean imports from the United States slid to just 66,955 tons, down from 1.33 million tons a year earlier. Chinese customs last month began updating an online database with commodity imports by country of origin, replacing a service that had until March only been available to clients. China's splurge on Brazilian beans in recent months has led to big stockpiles of soymeal and soybeans that have alleviated worries of a feed shortage for the world's biggest pig herd. National soybean stocks rose to a record in early October at 9 million tons, while soybean meal stocks were also higher than in previous years. Soybean imports from Russia in October were at 92,806 tons, up 60 percent from 57,643 tons a year earlier. And China brought in 127,630 tons of soybeans from Uruguay in October, down from 258,787 tons in the previous year. Soybean imports from Argentina in October were at 33,200 tons, down from 772,756 tons in the same month last year.

OFFSHORE MARKET NEWS: Wall Street stocks closed higher on Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 108.49 points, or 0.4%, to 24,748.73. The broad-based S&P 500 rose 8.72 points, or 0.3%, to 2,682.17, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index inched up 0.85 points to 7,082.80.

The major European markets moved to the downside on Tuesday. The German DAX Index fell by 0.4%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index dipped by 0.3% and 0.2%, respectively.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News