Changing China
Giant on the move
No new stimulus? Buy!
Global markets surged on Wednesday, led by the Shanghai stock market’s 6.1 percent gain, on hopes that Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao would announce a new stimulus on top of the 4 trillion yuan ($585 billion) two-year spending plan unveiled in November.
Investors were optimistic that with a bit help from the central government, the economy could turn the corner and start to regain lost ground, heading off a rise in unemployment that officials fear could threaten social stability.
But in his 2-hour report to the annual meeting of parliament, Wen made no mention of the much hoped-for injection.
No matter. Speculators and investors poured back into China’s share market on Thursday, grasping new reasons to be upbeat, and pushing up the index another 1.04 percent.
