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MARKETS ASIA STOCKS
China Shares Down Sharply
Shanghai Composite Index has fallen about 48% from its June peak
By CHAO DENG
Updated Feb. 29, 2016 2:48 a.m. ET
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Shares in China dropped sharply Monday as China’s central bank guided the yuan to its weakest level in three weeks, just after Chinese officials worked hard at a world economic gathering in Shanghai to dispel worries about China’s economic strategy.
The Shanghai Composite Index closed 2.9% lower at 2687.98. Meanwhile, the Shenzhen Composite Index ended Monday down 5.4% and the Nasdaq-style ChiNext benchmark fell almost 7%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.9%.
Most other Asian stock benchmarks were up slightly, although they pared earlier gains.
Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average was last up 0.8%, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.2% and South Korea’s Kospi was flat.
The losses in Chinese shares came as the yuan reached 6.5490 to one U.S. dollar, marking its weakest level in the onshore market since Feb. 5. The yuan, which can trade in a 2% up or down limit of the central bank bank’s daily fixing onshore, has now fallen nearly 1% in value against the dollar since mid-February.
China’s central bank has been guiding the currency weaker in recent sessions, with its Monday fixing for the currency weaker for the fifth straight time, this time by around 0.2% compared to the U.S. dollar. That was even as Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and central bank chief Zhou Xiaochuan tried to calm concerns that their economic strategy hinges on weakening the yuan’s exchange rate. At a weekend Group of 20 meeting in Shanghai, Mr. Zhou said there is no basis for a persistent depreciation in the currency.
Analysts have noted that some investors may also be switching out of stocks to invest in China’s property market, now warming under the help of the government’s easing measures. Home prices in tier-one cities rose 1.8% in January, reflecting growing appetite for home buying. China’s central bank chief said housing loans remain low as a proportion of total bank loans, suggesting that the central bank sees room for more property-market easing measures, according to analysts.
“It’s likely that some capital has fled the stock market and flowed into the housing market,” says Deng Wenyuan, an analyst at Soochow Securities.
The losses in Shanghai have come as China’s outstanding margin loans slump to their lowest level in more than a year.
Margin loans, or the money investors borrow from brokers to buy stocks, stood at 869.7 billion yuan as of Feb. 26, the lowest level since Dec. 4, 2014, according to Wind Information as of Friday. In the middle of last year, deleveraging moves by Chinese regulators spooked investors and effectively helped end a bull market run.
Most markets in the region fell in February, amid global market turmoil.
The Nikkei is on track for its third straight down month, with its February loss so far at 7%, as investors pushed up the Japanese yen amid global turmoil. The strengthening yen hurt prospects for Japanese exporters that pay costs in local currency at home.
—Yifan Xie contributed to this article.
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