Investors create most new trading accounts since November

Chinese investors opened 432,897 new trading accounts last week, the most since the end of November, Bloomberg reported, citing data from the China Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation. Investors increasingly pursued returns in the stock market due to the current environment of real negative interest rates. China’s inflation rate grew to 2.7% in February, exceeding the 2.25% interest rate on 12-month savings deposits. The Shanghai Composite Index has fallen 4.5% in the most recent quarter following two mandated national increases in bank reserves, but an inflationary environment may push more money into China’s markets as investors seek to prevent wealth erosion.