After the market closed, China unveiled an increase in the quota for local special bonds by 6 trillion yuan (US$838.1 billion) over the next three years. Futures fell when the plan was announced by Xu Hongcai, vice-chairman of the National People’s Congress’ financial and economic committee, signalling that investor expectations were not met.
“HSI futures plummeted more than 400 points after 4pm when the NPC press conference commenced,” said Louis Wong, executive director of Phillip Capital Management (Hong Kong). “That may reflect that investors are somehow disappointed with the stimulus-package announcement, which mainly focuses on addressing provincial governments’ hidden debt problems.”
US-listed Chinese stocks were mostly lower in early trading on Friday. Alibaba Group Holding and JD.com were down by more than 4 per cent. Alibaba owns the Post. NetEase fared worse, falling more than 5.5 per cent.
In the regular…
