BEIJING: China’s stocks climbed for a second day as a rally for commodity companies overshadowed data showing a slower expansion for services.
The Shanghai Composite Index climbed 0.3 percent to 3,212.92 at the 11:30 a.m. break. The gauge rallied 2.5 percent on Tuesday amid speculation the government will ease monetary policy after manufacturing data signaled a contraction. Today’s data showed a gauge of services from HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics expanded at the weakest pace in six months.
Yanzhou Coal Mining Co. climbed 1.6 percent, while Jiangxi Copper Co. surged 1.7 percent. Crude entered a bull market after soaring 24 percent from a six-year low reached in January, while copper futures jumped the most in 21 months. Baoshan Iron & Steel Co. jumped by the 10 percent daily limit after the company’s board approved a plan to set up a steel e-commerce platform. Standard Chartered Plc surged the most since 2013 in Hong Kong trading.
“The services data is more evidence of deepening economic slowdown,” said Zhao Bingtong, Shenzhen-based trader at Guosen Securities Co. “The market is holding on to bets that more monetary easing will come before the Chinese New Year holiday.”
The CSI 300 advanced 0.3 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng China Enterprises Index added 1 percent and the Hang Seng Index rose 0.9 percent. The Bloomberg China-US Equity Index, the measure of the most-traded U.S.-listed Chinese companies, climbed 1.6 percent on Tuesday.
The HSBC Services Purchasing Managers’ Index for January was at 51.8, down from 53.4 a month earlier. Numbers above 50 indicate expansion. Services made up 48.2 percent of gross domestic product in 2014, up 1.3 percentage points from a year earlier and one of the brighter performers in an economy that expanded at the weakest pace since 1990.
