Stocks rise to 7-year high on stimulus hopes

    THE bulls are back in China with the stock market rallying for a sixth straight day yesterday to levels last seen during the global financial crisis in 2008, on hopes of further stimulus measures from the government to rejuvenate the sluggish economy.

    The Shanghai Composite Index climbed 2.13 percent to 3,577.30, taking gains this year to more than 9.2 percent. The Shenzhen Composite Index gained 2.05 percent to 1,818.38.

    China Cloud Live flags debt stress

    CHINA Cloud Live Technology Group Co., a Beijing-based Internet company, may struggle to pay bond investors next month, the latest sign of stress in China’s debt markets a year after the nation’s first onshore default by Shenzhen-listed Shanghai Chaori Solar Energy Science & Technology Co.

    There are “big uncertainties” about whether China Cloud Live can repay interest and principal on a note investors can opt to sell back April 5, according to a statement from GF Securities Co., the securities’ lead underwriter. Cloud Live said March 4 investors had applied to sell back 398.71 million yuan (US$64 million). The company had only 10.39 million yuan in a special account for the repayment as of Tuesday, GF Securities said yesterday.

    Everbright Bank may split off unit

    CHINA Everbright Bank Co. said yesterday that it may put its wealth management business into a separate unit.

    Everbright Bank is studying the possibility of an independent subsidiary, the bank said. China International Capital Corp. said earlier that the lender could be among the first Chinese banks to split off assets, including wealth management and credit card businesses, with an eye to eventually listing them. The bank’s wealth business may be worth US$10.1 billion, based on average valuations of Chinese fund managers, CICC analysts said.

    Huatai files for HK stock listing

    HUATAI Securities Co., the mainland’s largest stock brokerage, filed Tuesday for a Hong Kong share offering, which a source with knowledge of the matter said could raise more than US$2 billion.

    The Shanghai-listed firm hired its unit, Huatai Financial Holdings (Hong Kong) Ltd., JP Morgan and UBS as sponsors of the share offering, according to the filing, which did not disclose the size or timing of the deal. Huatai ranked first in brokerage trading volumes of stocks and funds on the mainland in 2014, it said in the filing, citing data from research firm Wind Info.