This daily digest focuses on market sentiment, new developments in China’s foreign exchange policy, changes in financial market regulations and Chinese-language economic coverage in order to keep DailyFX readers up-to-date on news typically covered only in Chinese-language sources.
- China’s Premier made comments against speculation on Yuan’s continuous losses.
- Hong Kong Monetary Authority said it has sufficient foreign reserve to support the HKD-USD peg.
- Chinese airlines expect high growth in earnings due to recent drops in oil prices.
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Sina News: China’s most important online media source, similar to CNN in the US. They also own a Chinese version of Twitter, called Weibo, with around 200 million active usersmonthly.
- China’s Premier Li Keqiang emphasized on Thursday that the Chinese government has no intention to devalue yuan to promote exports, let alone to start a trade war. The Chinese Yuan remains relatively stable when compared to a basket of currencies. Li indicated that there is no basis for the yuan’s continued depreciation. This is another official defense made by China against Yuan short speculation. Chinese state media has already published four articles to warn against Yuan and HKD speculation this week.
- On January 28, China’s central bank injected 260 billion Yuan into the market through 28-day and 7-day Reverse Repos. In 19 days, the PBOC has pumped a total amount of 2.2 trillion yuan to meet the temporary increased demand in the currency around the Lunar New Year. The central bank also said it would increase the frequency of open-market operations from twice a week to every working day between January 29th and February 19th.
- Overall tone on the stock market from Sina News: Mixed.
SAFF News: The Chinese foreign exchange regulator.
- The foreign exchange regulator refuted the rumor that China will restrict foreign companies from transferring their non-Yuan profits earned in China overseas. SAFE’s policies will remain unchanged. As Chinese equity markets have become increasingly volatile and as Chinese foreign reserves have seen significant drops, market participants have suspected that the foreign exchange regulator will tighten capital controls. Thus, the regulator responded to this growing concern.
Hexun News: Chinese leading online media of financial news
- Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) said on Wednesday that the Hong Kong government has $358.9 billion in foreign reserves, which is enough to protect HKD’s linked exchange rate regime. Currently, the Hong Kong dollar is pegged to the US Dollar. Also, unlike in mainland China, Hong Kong’s capital account is fully open. This means that the Hong Kong Dollar could potentially absorb more attacks than the Chinese Yuan. HKMA’s statement aims to add confidence to the market and defend against the HKD short speculation.
- Overall tone on the stock market from Hexun News: Mixed.
China Stock News:Chinese leading online media of financial news
- Chinese airlines expect increased earnings thanks to recent drops in oil prices. China Southern Airlines Co., a leading Chinese carrier, published earnings pre-announcement on January 27: It is said that the company’s profit in 2015 is expected to increase by 110% to 130% from a year ago. Another carrier, Spring Airlines Co., predicted that its earnings in 2015 will increase by 50% to 60%. Also, the Lunar New Year is coming, which is the peak season for transportation firms including airlines. Thus, the first quarter of 2016 could be a growing period for aviation stocks despite of overall losses in stock indexes.
- Overall tone on the stock market from China Stock News: Mixed.
Written by Renee Mu, DailyFX Research Team
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