Stocks climb as policymakers lift sentiment

STOCKS climbed yesterday as investors bet on further policy support from the government to offset the impact of the new coronavirus, with startups leading the gains.

At the close, the Shanghai Composite index was up 1.25 percent at 2,818.09, moving further away from a one-year bottom hit during Monday’s selloff. The tech-heavy startup board index rallied as much as 4.4 percent before closing 3.02 percent higher. Strong gains in China’s startup board companies boosted broader market sentiment, said Zhang Gang, an analyst with China Central Securities. Among best performers in the index were Shenzhen Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics and battery maker CATL. Both surged by their 10 percent daily limits.

Frozen pork from reserves to go on sale Friday

CHINA will sell 10,000 tons of frozen pork from its State reserves Friday, according to a notice on the website for the China Merchandise Reserve Management Center.

The National Development and Reform Commission said yesterday China will arrange to release frozen pork whenever necessary.

Canton Fair suspends activities due to outbreak

THE venue for Canton Fair, China’s oldest and biggest trade fair, has suspended exhibition activities until further notice due to the outbreak of a new coronavirus.

Canton Fair was originally scheduled to hold its spring season exhibition at the Canton Fair Complex from April 15, according to its website.

HK to ease reporting rules for annual results

HONG KONG’S markets regulator and stock exchange will relax rules on how companies must publish their annual results in response to challenges caused by the coronavirus, they said in a joint statement Tuesday.

In normal circumstances, Hong Kong-listed companies must publish preliminary results which have been agreed with their auditor by March 31, or have their shares suspended from trading. However, Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission and the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong said that because of problems caused by the virus, a company’ shares could likely still be traded if they published preliminary results that had not been agreed with their auditor but were otherwise compliant ahead of the deadline. The Shanghai Stock Exchange on Sunday also eased its rules for publishing results.