China Financial News

Shares of metal companies surged Monday, leading gains in a session where benchmark indices hit lifetime highs. The Nifty Metal index also surged to a record, ending with near 4% gains on positive manufacturing data from China amid brightening prospects of a June start to the US rate easing cycle. Shares of companies in this space ended 4-11% higher, with state-owned companies clocking in relatively higher gains. This outperformance was driven by them being relatively under-owned, said experts.

India has asked global and domestic trade houses to avoid buying new-season wheat from local farmers to help the government-backed Food Corporation of India (FCI) procure large quantities to shore up its depleting reserves, sources said. India, the world's biggest wheat consumer and grower after China, banned exports in 2022 and is keen to bolster stocks and tame prices that surged after dry weather hurt output in 2022 and 2023. Rising wheat prices forced the government to sell record quantities to boost local supplies, leading to a drawdown in reserves essential for the world's biggest food welfare programme, which entitles nearly 800 million to free grain.

A World Bank report says Asian economies are not doing as well as they could and growth in the region is forecast to slow to 4.5% this year from 5.1% in 2023

Hong Kong stocks are leading gains in Asian markets while investors evaluate economic data from South Korea and Australia

The French foreign minister has pressed China on trade issues and the war in Ukraine ahead of a planned visit to France by Chinese leader Xi Jinping later this spring

Asian shares are mixed after Wall Street retreated as surprisingly strong U.S. manufacturing data cast doubts over how soon the Federal Reserve might cut interest rates

Manufacturing in China expanded in March after contracting for five consecutive months

Chinese stocks ended slightly lower on Tuesday, as sentiment remained muted between optimism over improved manufacturing activity data and hopes for more stimulus measures. Hong Kong stocks rose, led by energy and technology shares. Xiaomi was under the spotlight, with its shares surging as much as 16%, as the electronics maker's sporty electric vehicle launched last week drew strong interest. ** At the close, the Shanghai Composite index was down 0.08% at 3,074.96, while Hong Kong's main Hang Seng index was up 2.36% ** The blue-chip CSI300 index was down 0.42%, with its financial sector sub-index lower by 0.34%, the consumer staples sector down 0.65%, the real estate index down 3.48% and the healthcare sub-index down 1.28%.

MEA) official spokesperson, Randhir Jaiswal, on Tuesday clarified India's stance on renaming of places in Arunachal Pradesh by China. Jaiswal called the move a senseless attempt and said that India rejects such claims. He said, «China has persisted with its senseless attempts to rename places in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. We firmly reject such attempts. Assigning invented names will not alter the reality that Arunachal Pradesh is, has been, and will always be an integral and inalienable part of India.” China had released a fourth list of 30 new names of various places in Arunachal Pradesh amid Beijing's stepped-up assertions in recent weeks to re-emphasise its claim over the Indian state. India has been rejecting China renaming places in Arunachal Pradesh, asserting that the state is an integral part of the country and assigning „invented“ names does not alter this reality.

Stock market today: On account of positive global market sentiments, the Indian stock market ended higher for the third day in a row on Monday. The Nifty 50 index hit a new peak of 22,529 whereas the BSE Sensex touched a new lifetime high of 74,254. The Bank Nifty index finished 453 points higher at the 47,578 mark.

Shares of China's Xiaomi surged as much as 16% on Tuesday after the maker of smartphones and other consumer electronics last week launched a sporty electric vehicle whose design has been likened to Porsche's Taycan and Panamera sports car models. Xiaomi shares touched their highest since January 2022 on the first day of trading after the Easter holiday break and the first since it launched its first-ever vehicle.

BEIJING — Shares of Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi surged 15% when the Hong Kong market opened Tuesday, the first trading day since the company launched its SU7 electric car ahead of the Easter holiday.

buy India, sell China" has reached an inflection point for some investors. Lazard Asset Management, Manulife Investment Management and Candriam Belgium NV are paring exposure to India after a record-breaking rally. They’re pivoting to former favourite China, as Beijing’s support for its economy spurs a recovery in industrial profit and manufacturing.

fund houses to set up a sub-exchange which could be along the lines of the Shanghai Stock Exchange STAR Market. The SSE STAR Market has been touted as Shanghai's Nasdaq which allows Chinese companies in high-tech and strategically emerging sectors with greater access to capital markets. The move to set up such an exchange in India comes at a time when the government harbours ambitions of touching $1 trillion in electronics production in the next five years. The discussions are being led by Electronics industry body ICEA (India Cellular & Electronics Association).

On April 1, the Chinese government announced a groundbreaking initiative led by Conflux Network: the “Ultra-Large Scale Blockchain Infrastructure Platform for the Belt and Road Initiative.”

Air Canada has awarded a Hong Kong company a major contract to perform heavy maintenance on 56 of its wide-body jets, sparking concerns about Chinese spies bugging the planes and aircraft becoming trapped in China if a military conflict erupts with Taiwan.

Havana Syndrome symptoms experienced by US diplomats in recent years have been linked to a Russian intelligence unit, according to a joint media investigation released Monday. Havana Syndrome was first reported in 2016 when US diplomats in Cuba's capital reported falling ill and hearing piercing sounds at night, sparking speculation of an attack by a foreign entity using an unspecified sonar weapon.

The general take on India’s rapid economic growth is that it’s powered by the government’s capex push. But a recent report questions this narrative, saying it underestimates the role of consumption. Mint unpacks the investment versus consumption debate.

imports from China declined 3% in calendar year 2023 over 2022, the commerce and industry ministry said Monday, adding that exports to both China and the EU rose 7.1% and 2.1%, respectively during the period. The statement comes more than a week after report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) showed that India’s trade dependence on China and the EU increased in 2023 while it reduced on Saudi Arabia. In its Global Trade Update on March 22, the UNCTAD said that India’s trade dependence on China and the EU increased 1.2% each in 2023 while it reduced 0.6% on Saudi Arabia. Trade interdependence between China and the US decreased further in 2023.

European and US equity futures rose Monday as US inflation figures did little to alter views that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates this year.

Developing economies of East Asia and the Pacific are set to see slowing growth, with higher-for-longer interest rates and worsening geopolitical tensions clouding the outlook for the region, the World Bank said.