China stocks rally on central bank measures to boost market
Updates at 0600 GMT
SHANGHAI/SINGAPORE, Oct 18 (Reuters) -Chinese stocks climbed on Friday after the central bank kicked off two funding schemes and urged swift adoption of financial policies to support capital markets, while mixed economic data kept up pressure on policymakers for more stimulus.
The People's Bank of China (PBOC) launched two schemes to initially pump as much as 800 billion yuan ($112 billion) into the stock market through newly-created monetary policy tools, boosting investor sentiment.
After a morning of choppy action, the blue-chip CSI300 Index .CSI300 was up 3.4%, while the Shanghai Composite Index .SSEC rose 2.7%. Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng .HSI rose 3.5%.
China stocks are down roughly 12% from their Oct. 8 peak after a turbulent few weeks, as caution has outpaced the euphoria that fuelled a surge of more than a fifth in just a week in late September after Beijing's stimulus measures.
In September, the PBOC announced its most aggressive monetary support steps since the COVID-19 pandemic, such as interest rate cuts and a liquidity injection of 1 trillion yuan ($140 billion) to help support markets.
The central bank, in a statement on Friday, urged financial institutions to boost credit support for the real economy, and maintain reasonable growth in the total amount of money and credit.
The PBOC and financial regulators have met officials of key financial institutions, such as banks, brokerages and fund companies.
"This is another signal that regulators are keenly aware of waning confidence," UBS analysts said in a note. "However, it's likely that investors, especially offshore ones, will be relatively fixated on demanding figures and implementation timeline of a fiscal stimulus."
The reserve requirement ratio for commercial lenders could be cut further by 25 to 50 basis points by the year-end depending on liquidity conditions, China's central bank governor said on Friday, keeping the door open to more policy easing steps.
Meanwhile, data on Friday showed China's economy grew in the third quarter at its slowest pace since early 2023, but a declining property sector remains a big challenge even though consumption and industrial output figures for last month beat forecasts.
"Sluggish GDP growth in the third quarter is a reminder that support measures are needed to stimulate demand," said HSBC's chief Asia economist Fred Neumann.
"Consumer spending and the property market remain the main drag on demand, suggesting the extra stimulus in these areas would provide the most effective support to the economy."
Reporting by Ankur Banerjee in Singapore and Shanghai newsroom; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Jacqueline Wong
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