Mainland China share market finished session modestly higher on Thursday, 04 August 2022, as investors turned their focus from tensions in Taiwan to a raft of newly launched infrastructure projects that Beijing is proposing to boost its sluggish economy.
Meanwhile Goldman Sachs bullishness on Chinese stocks also supported sentiments. Goldman Sachs analysts kept their overweight outlook on Chinese equities and predicted 24% potential returns in the next 12 months despite worsening geopolitical tensions.
At close of trade, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.8%, or 25.37 points, to 3,189.04. The Shenzhen Composite Index, which tracks stocks on China's second exchange, added 0.86%, or 18.14 points, to 2,135.33. The blue-chip CSI300 index was up 0.85%, or 34.56 points, to 4,101.54.
Markets were relieved that US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan didn't trigger direct military conflict, although Sino-US tensions linger over the self-ruled island that China claimed its own.
Investors' focus now shifted to signs infrastructure investment is gathering pace as Beijing seeks to revive its economy. As per reports, total 3,876 major projects started construction in July 2022, involving total investment of 2.4 trillion yuan ($355.33 billion).
Separate reports stated that China's State Grid plans to invest more than 150 billion yuan in ultra high voltage (UHV) power transmission lines.
On the corporate front, solar PV electronic devices manufacturer QC Solar (SuZhou) soared 267.4% from its initial public offering price of 34.84 yuan ($5.16) on the first day of its trading on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange's ChiNext board.
CURRENCY NEWS: China's yuan appreciated against the U.S. dollar, on tracking a firmer official guidance rate, but gains were capped by broad dollar strength and concerns over rising Sino-US tensions. Prior to market opening, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) set the midpoint rate CNY=PBOC at 6.7636 per dollar, 177 pips or 0.26% firmer than the previous fix of 6.7813. In the spot market, the onshore yuan CNY=CFXS was changing hands at 6.7570 at midday, 27 pips firmer than the previous late session close.
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