China’s shares ended higher Wednesday, with sharp gains in the last half-hour of trading, as officials stepped up efforts to calm markets.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index shed 25.98 points, or 0.1%, to 20,302.91
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index moved up 115.51, or 0.5%, to 24,619.45, while a gauge of Chinese companies listed in the city rose 0.9%.
Several commodities, which have been battered by a stronger U.S. dollar and worries about China’s slowdown, continued to slide. China is one of the world’s largest consumers of oil, metals and food, and a stronger dollar makes commodities more expensive for foreign buyers, as many are priced in the U.S. currency.
Expectations the U.S. will raise interest rates soon has tarnished gold, which has hit multiyear lows in the past week, as investors consider moving to higher-yielding assets. Spot gold is roughly flat in Asia trade at $1,096.10 U.S. an ounce.
CHINA
In China, the CSI 300 recovered 119.29 points, or 3.1 %, to 3,930.38
About 400 stocks listed in Shanghai and Shenzhen reached their 10% upward daily limit on Wednesday, while industrial stocks like CRRC Corp., China Railway Group and China Shipbuilding Industry Co. led gains for the Shanghai Composite.
The rapid gains late in the afternoon baffled many analysts, some of whom suspect the government may have stepped in to buy more shares.
Officials have come out to soothe investor concerns amid the second bout of selling this month. On Tuesday afternoon, China’s securities watchdog said it would investigate whether a coordinated dumping of shares sparked Monday’s selloff. Late Monday, the regulator said it would increase its support to the market.
The bulk of Wednesday’s gains came and hour and a half before the market’s close at 3 p.m. local time, with a sharp surge within the last 30 minutes.
The latest round of heavy selling appears to have further flushed out borrowing by investors to make bigger bets on the market. Margin financing fell to 1.38 trillion yuan ($222.26 billion) Tuesday, the lowest since March 19, according to the latest data by Wind Information Co, from 1.43 trillion yuan on Monday. Borrowing to buy shares—or margin lending—helped fuel a yearlong rally, but also exacerbated the rout as investors sold shares to cover losses.
Still, hundreds of billions of yuan remain in the form of margin financing from unofficial lenders, such as Internet-financing platforms that authorities are looking to monitor more closely.
In other markets
Singapore’s Straits Times Index eked up 2.91 points, or 0.1%, to 3,284
In Taiwan, the Taiex index slid 19.01 points, or 0.2%, to 8,563.48
In Korea, the Kospi index fell 1.48 points, or 0.1%, to 2,037.62
The NZX 50 recovered 22.39 points, or 0.4%, to 5,870.77
The ASX 200 Index regained 39.47 points, or 0.7%, to 5,624.16
