Cash shortage hurts China’s stock market

A cash shortage among banks made the Chinese stock market one of the world’s worst performers last year.

Combined with a tepid rebound in the economy and worries over a resumption of new share offers flooding the market, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index wrapped up 2013 down 6.8 percent over the year.

“Instability in the financial system and expectations that authorities would maintain a tight balance in its monetary policy led to some volatility in the market,” BOC International analyst Shen Jun told AFP.

In comparison, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index soared 56.7 percent over the year, in New York the broad-based S&P 500 surged 29.1 percent by Monday — having tapped several record highs — while the CAC 40 in Paris gained 17.4 percent despite the French economy’s woes. Even the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong rounded out the year up 2.87 percent.

China’s central bank has shown reluctance to inject extra liquidity into the interbank market as it fends off potential risks to the financial system and clamps down on shadow banking that resulted in excessive credit.

The central bank said yesterday it would maintain an “appropriate” level of liquidity while repeating its embrace of a “prudent” monetary policy.

“The stock market has always been sensitive to each and every move of policymakers,” said Central China Securities analyst Zhang Gang.

However, Shanghai stocks ended higher yesterday, with the Shanghai Composite adding 0.88 percent to 2,115.98, lifted by brokerages on hope that the resumption of IPOs will bring them new business and more revenue.

Five companies said in separate exchange filings on Monday that they had won the regulatory nod for initial public offerings on the mainland market.

The rebooting of IPOs comes on the heels of a series of measures by the China Securities Regulatory Commission to reform its new stock sale mechanism, aiming to crack down on market misconduct and protect the interests of minority investors.

The new IPO pricing system is to be tested by a flood of equity sales by companies keen on raising capital to counter slower growth and to boost expansion.

“The impact on the market is likely to be limited as the IPO resumption is in line with investor expectation,” Du Changchun, an analyst with Northeast Securities, said in a note yesterday. “Actually, the new offerings are helpful to invigorate the market.”

The five companies are planning to offer a total of 268 million shares, raising 2.15 billion yuan (US$352 million), according to the filings. The filings didn’t disclose when the listings would come to the market. The new IPO rules released in November allows issuers to decide the timing of debut within a year after approval.

China’s securities regulator hadn’t approved any IPOs since November 2012 in a bid to restore investor confidence hurt by numerous new listings diverting money from existing shares. The suspension left more than 700 companies in the IPO pipeline.