Brokerages issue bonds to support stock investment

    THE Shenzhen Stock Exchange said Friday that domestic brokerages have issued 102.9 billion yuan (US$16.57 billion) in short-term bonds on its exchange in order to support stock market investments.

    The Shanghai Stock Exchange said earlier that domestic brokerages have issued 91.4 billion yuan (US$14.7 billion) in short-term bonds on that exchange, at average yields of 5.35 percent. The issues are in compliance with instructions from the China Securities Regulatory Commission to expand investment into the stock market to help stabilize indices. China’s stock markets slid sharply in mid-June.

    Equity funds see their biggest inflows ever

    CHINA’S equities just saw a huge influx of investment, despite the big bear market that had wiped out almost US$4 trillion of the country’s stock market.

    Amidst huge swings in the Chinese stock market and a government support meant to stop the huge selloff, Chinese equities just saw a record amount of inflows. According to a new report from Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s Michael Hartnett, US$13 billion flowed into Chinese equity funds in the week ended July 8, the highest amount on record.

    Billionaires lose about US$100b in a month

    BILLIONAIRES from the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong who rank among the 400 wealthiest people on earth gained US$121 billion this year through June 12, 2015, when equity markets peaked in Shanghai, Shenzhen and Hong Kong. They lost almost US$100 billion as shares plummeted this month, including US$30 billion at the start of the week, before the rally Thursday and Friday.

    The rise and fall (and potential rise again) has reshuffled the top echelon of global wealth, pushing China above all others except for the United States in the numbers of billionaires created and the fortunes they control.

    ‘Market deficiencies’ partly behind stock slump

    CHINA’S billionaire investor Guo Guangchang yesterday said deficiencies in designing China’s financial infrastructure were partly behind the slump that wiped out almost US$4 trillion from the nation’s stock market.

    The equity market is young and going through an “adolescent period,” Guo, founder and chairman of Fosun Group, China’s largest closely held conglomerate, said at a Shanghai forum.