【英语财经】银行股行情遏制A股跌势 Bank shares recovery limits Shanghai losses

China’s benchmark stock index followed up its

second-worst single-day percentage decline with a drop of less than 2 per cent yesterday.

The Shanghai Composite finished a volatile session down 1.7 per cent at 3,663 after heavy buying of shares in state-owned banks helped pull it off lows. Nevertheless that was a third straight decline for the index, which fell more than 5 per cent during the trading day.

Bank stocks comprise a disproportionately large share of the index and some analysts said their strong performance could reflect targeted buying by state-directed investors trying to support the market.

In Shenzhen, the Composite index ended 2.3 per cent lower at 2,110.9, while the tech-heavy ChiNext was down 3.8 per cent. The CSI 300 index, tracking the largest companies traded in Shanghai and Shenzhen, was down 0.2 per cent

At its intraday low the Shanghai index was approaching the nadir of 3,507 points it hit on July 8, when the government announced measures to prop up a market that had collapsed more than 30 per cent in less than a month.

Beijing’s extraordinary measures to halt that rout included share-buying by state-owned entities, a ban on short selling and initial public offerings, a ban on share sales by big investors and direct credit lines from the central bank to margin financing companies.

But after rallying for three straight weeks to climb back above 4,100 points, the market plummeted on Monday, with the Shanghai Composite falling 8.5 per cent to record its worst single-day fall since February 2007.

With expectations of further government intervention, the market appeared disappointed yesterday when no new measures were announced overnight.

Late on Monday, the central bank vowed to keep monetary policy stable, while the securities regulator denied a stability fund set up earlier this month to buy shares and prop up the market had begun selling shares.

The regulator insisted it would continue to buy more shares to support the market and suggested Monday’s sell-off had been caused by “malicious” stock sales by large shareholders.

Apart from these promises of continued support, Beijing appeared at a loss over how to respond to the renewed slide in share prices.

All four of China’s major state-controlled equity market newspapers ran soothing editorials and stories yesterday assuring the public that the “overall positive direction for the stock market has not changed”.

The benchmark index is still up more than 60 per cent on a year ago and many analysts believe it has a lot further to fall.

Buoyed by supportive government pronouncements and policies and fuelled by an unprecedented wave of margin financing, the Shanghai Composite had climbed more than 150 per cent in less than a year before the rout began in mid-June.

中国基准股指继周一出现史上第二糟糕的单日跌幅之后，昨日下跌不到2%。

上证综指(Shanghai Composite Index)经历了又一个波动的交易日，最后收于3663点，当日下跌1.7%。昨日盘中上证综指一度下跌逾5%，国有银行股的大量买盘使股指从低点回升。不过，这仍是上证综指连续第三个交易日下跌。

银行股在上证综指中占有较大比重，一些分析师表示，这些股票的强劲表现，可能说明一些受国家指导的投资者在针对性地买入股票，以求护盘。

在深圳，深证综指(Shenzhen Composite Index)收盘跌2.3%，至2110.9点，而以科技股为主的创业板(ChiNext)收盘跌3.8%。追踪在上海和深圳上市的大盘股的沪深300指数(CSI 300 index)下跌0.2%。

上证综指在盘中低点一度逼近它在7月8日触及的谷底3507点，当时政府宣布一系列措施以支撑在不到一个月里下滑逾30%的股市。

北京方面采取的不寻常救市措施包括：国有实体买入股票，禁止卖空和首次公开发行(IPO)，禁止大股东减持股份，以及由中国央行向保证金贷款机构提供直接信贷额度。

但是，中国股市在持续三周反弹、重新站上4100点之后，周一出现暴跌，上证综指跌8.5%，这是自2007年2月以来的最大单日跌幅。

鉴于人们期待政府进一步干预，昨日市场似乎对隔夜没有新措施出炉感到失望。

周一晚，央行誓言保持货币政策的稳定，而证券监管机构否认本月早些时候建立的一只平准基金（旨在买入股票，稳定市场）已开始卖出股票。

证券监管机构坚称，将继续买入更多股票护盘，并提出，周一的抛售是某些大股东“恶意”售股所致。

除了这些关于继续护盘的承诺以外，北京方面似乎在如何应对股价再度下滑的问题上拿不出办法。

国有控股的四大股市报刊昨日都发表了安慰人心的评述和报道，向公众打包票说，股市整体正面走势没有变化。

基准股指仍比一年前高出逾60%，许多分析师认为，它还有很大下跌空间。

在政府支持性言论和政策的鼓舞下，在空前保证金融资浪潮的助燃下，上证综指曾在不到一年时间里上涨逾150%，最后在6月中旬开始回落。

译者/和风