China stocks started off the day with a bang but enthusiasm soon fizzled out, leaving the blue-chip index still rooted near five-year lows and the Shanghai Composite languishing near its lowest since 2020.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was the outlier and gained 1%, boosted by Alibaba on reports that Jack Ma has been scooping up the e-commerce giant’s battered shares.
Sentiment on China remains rock-bottom and the collective shrug by investors to the report of a mooted $278 billion rescue package underscores the challenge ahead for Chinese authorities.
That keeps the focus during European hours on China-exposed luxury firms including LVMH, Kering and Richemont.
Futures indicate European bourses are set for a higher open, with traders eyeing manufacturing PMI data from the euro zone, UK, France and Germany that will paint a clearer picture of the economy ahead of the region’s central bank meeting on Thursday.
The European Central Bank is widely expected to keep rates steady this time but traders are pricing in cuts of around 130 basis points this year, with a near 97% chance of the first reduction in June.
/cloudfront-us-east-2.images.arcpublishing.com/reuters/EEZ6AR2P4VLC5LTECDJ5YV6KO4.jpg "No luck for China stocks, or for Barbie 38")
