Chinese stocks extended their recent selloff, putting a key gauge of the nation’s equities on track to erasing all the gains seen since last month’s Politburo meeting.
The MSCI China Index dropped as much as 0.9% early Wednesday amid mounting concerns over China’s economic growth. The Hang Seng Index slid more than 1%, inching closer to a technical bear market.
Pressure is building across China’s financial markets given a slew of disappointing economic data, renewed concerns about the property sector and an unfolding crisis in the nation’s shadow banking system. That’s calling for more aggressive easing by Beijing as investors say the incremental policies so far have failed to revive confidence.
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Market reaction to a spate of stimulus steps has been muted, underscoring the extent of investor pessimism. On Tuesday, the People’s Bank of China cut a benchmark interest rate in a surprise move to shore up sentiment, while policymakers are considering cutting the stamp duty on stock trades for the first time since 2008. Still, they have so far refrained from helping out the heavily indebted property sector and giving consumers more cash to spend.
The outlook for China’s economic growth is dimming, with investment banks around the world cutting their 2023 forecasts. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s team lowered its full-year projection to 4.8%. As recently as early May, the bank had been predicting a 6.4% expansion, among the highest calls.
--With assistance from John Cheng.
