BEIJING (AP) – China’s stock benchmark closed at a seven-year high Monday as hopes for economic stimulus rose. Other Asian markets were mostly higher, while European stocks declined in early trading.
KEEPING SCORE: Germany’s DAX shed 0.2 percent to 12,347.09 and France’s CAC 40 was off just under 0.1 percent to 3,237.41. On Friday, the DAX added 1.4 percent and the CAC 40 gained 0.4 percent. On Wall Street, the future for the Standard & Poor’s 500 index was off 0.3 percent after rising 0.5 percent on Friday. The future for the Dow Jones industrial average was unchanged after Friday’s 0.6 percent gain.
ASIA’S DAY: The Shanghai Composite Index rose 2.2 percent to 4,121.71 points, closing above 4,100 for the first time since March 11, 2008, after weak trade data boosted expectations Beijing might launch a new stimulus. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 2.7 percent to 28,016.34 and Seoul’s Kospi rose 0.5 percent to 2,098.92. India’s Sensex added 0.3 percent to 28,876.49 and Sydney’s S&P ASX 200 edged up 0.1 percent to 5,960.30. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 was unchanged at 19,905.46 after briefly passing 20,000 last week.
CHINA’S STIMULUS HOPES: Markets were boosted by expectations that a sharper-than-forecast contraction in March trade increased chances that Beijing will launch additional stimulus to spur slowing growth. Imports fell 12.7 percent from a year earlier and exports declined 15 percent. That added to signs that growth in the first three months of the year, due to be reported Wednesday, might decline further from the previous quarter’s 7.3 percent.
THE QUOTE: “The elephant in the room is whether China’s deterioration has endured,” following softer industrial output and other data in January and February, Mizuho Bank said in a report. “The silver lining is that a softer outcome under disinflationary conditions will allow more stimulus to propel a revival in growth.”