Asia's largest economy and the world's second-largest economy, China, has not had the best past few years, as its growth has slowed down monumentally ever since its pandemic boom, when, between 2020 and mid-2021, China was virtually the only economy making headlines for the right reasons.
Vacilating Chinese Fortunes
Its equity markets have reflected this trend, as the major Chinese indices have struggled all the while other Asian markets have shown some progress. This, however, changed when China's central bank brought about economic stimulus measures to kickstart the economy; that is slower than an intoxicated tortise.
The markets were trading as though there was no tomorrow. Major indices, including the Hang Seng, CSI 300 and SSE Composite, saw gains of over 8 per cent in a single day.
China Grows At 4.6%
However, there was a tomorrow, and it was not merry. The euphoria cooled down when it was reported that the Chinese government may not call in to revive the economy and would not add to the aforementioned stimulus measures.
As the markets climbed down a little, another tranche of news hit the streets of the Chinese equity markets when the Chinese authorities released the latest growth figures. According to the latest numbers, the Chinese economy grew at a rate of 4.6 per cent in the third quarter (July–September) of the fiscal year (YoY).
This was the slowest rate of growth observed in the Chinese economy in about 18 months or a year and a half. Despite this news of sluggish growth, all the major indices sensed a little bit of optimism, as, on Friday, October 18, the Chinese indices closed with major gains, with an uptick of over 3 per cent on average.
However, when we look at the larger picture of the developments over the past week, one can see the difference and how it was a narrow escape from a 'red week' with losses for the indices.
CSI 300 Index
One of the key indices, the CSI 300 Index, closed the week in green, gaining over 3.5 per cent on the last day of the week.
But in the past 5 trading sessions, the index made marginal gains of 0.26 per cent or 10.02 points, closing at 3,925.23 points.
SSE Composite Index
The SSE Index, like CSI index, made major gains (2.92 per cent) on the last day; however, the week was not particularly spectacular.
In the last 5 trading sessions, the index gained a marginal 0.62 per cent or 20.14 points, closing at 3,261.56.
Hang Seng Index
The Hang Seng Index was the biggest casualty here, as, despite making gains of over 3.5 per cent on Friday, the index ended the week losses of 2.00 per cent or 424.54 points, in the last 5 trading sessions.
The index closed at 20,804.11 points.
