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China Shares Climb
China’s central bank injects 100 billion yuan in short-term loans to money markets ahead of Lunar New Year Holiday
By CHAO DENG
Updated Feb. 2, 2016 3:11 a.m. ET
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China shares climbed Tuesday after the country’s central bank injected more liquidity into the financial system, although most other markets in the region took a break from a two-day rally.
The Shanghai Composite Index closed up 2.3% at 2749.57, moving further away from the 2500 level that some analysts expect the index could fall to amid ongoing worries about China’s economy and capital outflows.
The benchmark picked up in the morning after news that China’s central bank injected 100 billion yuan (15.2 billion dollars ) in short-term loans to money markets. The bank’s move effectively staves off potential liquidity squeezes ahead of the weeklong Lunar New Year holiday that starts Feb. 7 and was the first leg of its usual twice-a-week money-market operations. Shanghai is now down 47% from its peak last June.
Elsewhere, the Nikkei Stock Average slipped 0.6%, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 finished down 1%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was last down 0.8%. South Korea’s Kospi fell 1%.
Most shares in Asia had staged a two-session rally beginning Friday, when the Bank of Japan announced it would adopt a negative interest-rate policy. The Nikkei gained almost 5% over the two trading days. But on Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.1%, also pausing after a large rally Friday. That led to a reversal on Tuesday for most Asian markets early in the trading day.
The weakness in most of Asia came as oil prices declined and the day after China released data showing its manufacturing activity fell for the sixth straight month.
A basket of Australian energy shares led losses in the country, falling 3.2% as oil prices hit a near one-week low in Asian trade. Brent crude oil was last down 1% at 33.92 dollars a barrel.
Shares of Australia-based BHP Billiton Ltd. fell 2.2%, after Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services lowered the company’s credit ratings to A from A+ and forecast that BHP’s financial health would deteriorate over the coming 18 months as the resources downturn deepens.
Losses in the S&P/ASX 200 also grew slightly, after the Reserve Bank of Australia held interest rates steady at 2%, as investors had expected. The Australian dollar strengthened slightly against the U.S. dollar.
“The RBA [was] less upbeat on the global economic outlook, particularly for emerging countries, and has acknowledged a further slide in commodity prices and reduced appetite for risk,” Shane Oliver, investment strategist at AMP Capital, wrote in a note. Still, he said, “[the RBA] seems more upbeat on the Australian economy at least in terms of information released over the last few months.”
Investors, who have said central bank policies are playing an ever-greater role in driving the direction of global markets, were awaiting the Reserve Bank of India to announce its decision on monetary policy later Tuesday. The RBI is also expected to keep rates unchanged.
—Yifan Xie contributed to this article.
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