BEIJING: China’s stocks rose for a sixth day, sending the benchmark index toward its longest stretch of gains since May, amid speculation the government’s spate of support measures have stabilized equities.
The Shanghai Composite Index climbed 1.3 percent to 4,078.90 at the break, led by financial and material shares. Trading interest has waned during the market’s recent rebound, with the benchmark index posting daily price moves of less than 1 percent this week, volatility falling to one-month lows and trading volumes slumping 15 percent from the 30-day average.
“Volatility has certainly fallen off in a big way and we are seeing sustained signs of stability,” said Bernard Aw, a Singapore-based strategist at IG Asia Pte. “The upshot is that this sideways grind is going to stay for a while longer as onshore markets slowly resume normalcy, with the government carefully scaling back the support measures.”
The Shanghai index has risen 16 percent since July 8, rebounding from a month-long rout that wiped out almost $4 trillion, after officials allowed more than 1,400 companies to halt trading, banned major shareholders from selling stakes, suspended initial public offerings and gave a government agency access to more than $480 billion of borrowed funds to help finance equity purchases.
