(Bloomberg) — China’s long-awaited stimulus measures may have been too much for the markets to handle.
Most Read from Bloomberg
With shares soaring and turnover reaching 710 billion yuan ($101 billion) in the first hour of trading on Friday, Shanghai’s stock exchange was marred by glitches in processing orders and delays, according to messages from brokerages seen by Bloomberg News. The Shanghai Stock Exchange is investigating reasons for delays, it said in a statement.
“Due to surging trading volume, the Shanghai exchange and brokers report some trades have been delayed,” Hao Hong, chief economist at Grow Investment Group, said in a post on X. “The trading system is simply overwhelmed. There is a huge stampede of stock bulls.”
The Shanghai Composite Index stayed roughly unchanged from 10:10 a.m. for about an hour even as the Shenzhen composite gained 4.4% over the period. As trading resumed, the Shanghai index surged.
China’s stock markets erased losses for the year, following a blitz of stimulus measures introduced this week. That has sparked a frenzy of trading, with the volume turnover reaching twice the amount from the days prior to the stimulus.
The Politburo, comprised of the ruling Communist Party’s 24 most-senior officials including President Xi Jinping, vowed to strengthen fiscal and monetary policies and pledged to “strive to achieve” the annual goal, according to a Thursday statement. They also committed to action to make the property sector “stop declining,” their strongest vow yet to stabilize the crucial industry.
Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.