We may have entered a new year, but the China’s investors don’t seem to have noticed. That means more of the same: An index hovering around 1,900 as hopes for an economic rebound meet with worries about the coming year.
If there is a change, it may be toward increased pessimism. We’ve heard Finance Minister Xie Xuren predicting a rough year for China’s finances, while government think-tanks reduce expectations for fixed asset investment, and Li Ka-shing and Bank of America (BoA) plan to sell some of their Chinese bank holdings. All in all, not a lot of good news, but apparently not bad enough to really drive the markets down. Despite the plans of Li and BoA, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (601398.SH) still ends the week slightly up from its close at the end of last year, though down from a brief rise on Monday and Tuesday.
Anhui Conch Cement (600585.SH) has done better. It’s up more than 16% so far this year, with A-shares apparently ignoring – or moving on from – UBS’s dumping of more than a million H-shares at the end of December. For now, though, there is little to suggest that the rally reflects any real change in Anhui Conch’s prospects.