A Little Lower On Thursday, Finishing Off Worst Levels

MNI (London) - Benchmark indices were generally biased a touch lower given the negative lead from Wall St. and core global yield moves, as well as continued worry re: the Chinese economy.

• The CSI 300 lost 0.2%, while the Hang Seng was 0.7% softer, as both finished off worst levels. The former printed a fresh cycle low on Thursday.
• Speculation re: the potential for a fairly imminent PBoC RRR cut continued to do the rounds but had little net impact.
• We heard from a PBoC MPC member who noted that China's expansionary macro policy has proved less effective in boosting the economy, failing to fully offset headwinds.
• Moody's negative rating outlook moves for several banks and tech names weighed (this followed the same move from Moody’s on the Chinese sovereign rating earlier this week), while firmer-than-expected monthly export data didn’t materially lift sentiment.
• AI-linked names seemed to benefit from broader positive news covering the sector.
• The pharma sector benefitted from expectations surrounding a continued uptick in flu cases.
• More broadly, state-run newswires noted that the pace of buying for some onshore Chine ETFs picked up on Monday and Tuesday, despite continued headwinds for the space. This comes after last week’s reports/news flow of state-backed buying plans.
• Net flows via the HK-China Stock Connect schemes were essentially neutral on the day, with a very modest round of net inflows lodged.