China shares up after central bank intervenes

Chinese shares indicator board – unlike other markets green indicates falls Chinese shares picked up at the end of trading after the central bank stepped in to calm investors.

Chinese shares at one point lost 5%, adding to the 6% fall on Tuesday.

But the intervention left the Shanghai Composite 1.2% higher with a closing level of 3,794.11 points.

Traders had been unsettled by comments by the securities regulator that the market had normalised and the government would allow market forces a bigger role in determining prices.

Traders remained nervous about the further sell-off and the continuing uncertainty about the yuan.

China’s central bank started to devalue the currency last week in an attempt to boost slowing growth in the world’s second largest economy.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was also in negative territory, down by 1.1% at 23,219,98.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index finished the day 1.6% lower at 20,222.63, despite better-than-expected trade data out earlier in the morning.

The country’s trade deficit for July fell by 72.3% compared with the same period the year before, largely thanks to lower commodity prices.

The deficit fell to 268bn yen ($2.15bn) against 966.5bn yen a year earlier.

Japan’s exports to the key North American market were up 18.8% for the month, while exports to Asia rose by 6.1%.

Australia earnings

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 beat the region’s trend and rose by 1.5% to finish at 5,380.20 points following a host of corporate earnings.

Shares in Treasury Wine Estates jumped by more than 14% after the company reported a strong full-year profit saying its focus on more expensive brands was paying off.

Commodities producer Alumina saw shares up by almost 4% after strong half-year results and an optimistic outlook for the second half.

In South Korea, the benchmark Kospi shed 0.8%, closing at 1,939.38 points.

Computer and electronics giant Samsung Electronics beat the index’s trend though, jumping 3.5% after it’s ten-month-low of the past week.

Source: www.bbc.co.uk