China stocks jump on finance easing; rest of Asia mixed
HONG KONG (AP) - Chinese stocks jumped Monday after authorities loosened controls on investors borrowing money to buy shares while other major Asian benchmarks drifted as concerns about global growth and lower oil prices weighed on sentiment.
KEEPING SCORE: The Shanghai Composite Index in mainland China soared 2 percent to 3,012.96. South Korea's benchmark Kospi index slipped 0.3 percent to 1,985.65 while Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng index was up 0.2 percent to 20,704.78. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dipped 0.3 percent to 5,166.50. Southeast Asian benchmarks were uneven. Markets in Japan were closed for a holiday
ON THE MARGIN: China Securities Finance Corp. said late Friday that it would resume providing finance for margin financing to stock brokerages. The state-owned institution said it would provide financing again for four different loan periods of up to 91 days, according to a statement which was no longer available on its website but circulated widely on Chinese media. Beijing had tightened limits last year on lending to investors for stock purchases as part of steps to wind down emergency measures aimed at halting a market meltdown that began last June.
ANALYST VIEW: "They had restricted financing for a while, and now they're relaxing the rules, which is good, because recently Chinese market turnover had been on the low side for a very long time," said Jackson Wong, associate director at Huarong International Securities. "By relaxing rules, that would definitely boost the sentiment, the turnover."
GLOBAL OUTLOOK: The weakening price of oil and concerns about the state of China's economy continue to weigh on the minds of investors as they evaluate global growth prospects. Investors will also be mulling the outlook for the U.S. economy this week after Fed officials said last week that they would slow the rate of interest rate increases this year because of concerns about the global economy. Trading in many major markets is expected to be quieter than usual this week because trading is shortened not only by the Japanese holiday but also the Good Friday holiday in Western countries.
WALL STREET: Major U.S. benchmarks ended higher on Friday, for the fifth week in a row of gains. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.7 percent to 17,602.30 and is now up 1 percent for the year. The S&P 500 gained 0.4 percent to 2,049.58. The Nasdaq composite picked up 0.4 percent to 4,795.65.
ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude extended losses, sliding 43 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $40.71 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract lost 76 cents, or 1.9 percent, to settle at $39.44 a barrel. Brent crude, the benchmark for international oils, gave up 29 cents to $40.90 a barrel in London.
CURRENCIES: The dollar dipped to 111.50 yen from 111.56 yen. The euro edged up to $1.269 from $1.1268 in late trading Friday.