BU S INE S STUESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2015

record high reached in April, was up 0.24 per-cent. Hampstead Capital hedge fund managerLex Van Dam said the DAX now looked in bettershape. “Finally some good news out ofGermany, with the utilities RWE and E.ON lead-ing the way. I am quite constructive on the mar-ket,” he said.

China stocks, yuan jump Chinese investors jumped back into stocks

yesterday in heavy volume trade that pushedprices to seven-week highs, boosted byhopes for more economic stimulus after thecentral bank expanded a scheme thatincreases banks’ ability to lend. The yuan roseto its highest levels since its surprise devalua-tion on Aug. 11 sent shock waves throughglobal markets, with investors fearing theworst for an economy that for years has beenthe growth engine of the world.

The mood yesterday was a far cry fromJune, July and August when Chinese stocksappeared to be in freefall and authoritieswere scrambling to put a floor under marketswith an unprecedented flurry of rescue meas-ures. Hopes for more economic stimulusmeasures from Chinese authorities promptedbuyers back into the market. China is due toannounce a five-year plan for the economylater this month and over the weekend thecentral bank increased a pilot scheme onbank lending to several major centres, includ-ing Beijing and Shanghai.

The scheme allows banks to refinancehigh quality credit assets. “The policy may notimmediately inject a lot of liquidity into theeconomy, but it has boosted expectations of

monetary easing,” said Wu Kan, head of equi-ty trading at Shanghai-based investment firmShanshan Finance.

The CSI300 index of the largest listed com-panies in Shanghai and Shenzhen stock mar-kets rose 3.2 percent, while the ShanghaiComposite Index gained 3.3 percent.

Both hit their highest levels since Aug. 24,although they are still down more than 30percent from their highs in mid-June, thestart of a market rout that rocked global mar-kets and prompted heavy-handed interven-tion from Beijing that shook investor confi-dence. But in a sign that investors may bereturning to the market, trading volumes inShanghai jumped over 60 percent from theprevious session, and were nearly triple thelow hit on Sept. 30.

It marked the first sharp pick up in tradingvolume in conjunction with a rising marketsince August. While that can point to poten-tial buying strength, this week effectively isthe first proper trading week for Chinese mar-kets this month following a long holiday thattook up most of the past two weeks. So it isunclear if the rally is sustainable given thatthe value of many shares is still relativelyhigh. Comments from Yi Gang, deputy gover-nor of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC),added to the more positive market tone. Hewas quoted in official media as saying thestock market correction was “almost over.”Global markets also have been supported byexpectations that central banks, including theUS Federal Reserve, would keep borrowingcosts low to try to revive the sluggish globaleconomy. —Reuters

LONDON/MILAN: European shares nudged loweryesterday but remained close to one-month highsreached after a rally last week, with German utili-ties soaring on easing concerns over nuclear costs.E.ON and RWE both rose more than 10 percent intheir biggest one-day bounce in seven years afterBerlin concluded the companies had set asideenough money to decommission their nuclearplants. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 indexwas down 0.23 percent and the euro zone’s blue-chip Euro STOXX 50 index fell 0.23 percent. Traderssaid that it was no surprise some investors weretaking profits following last week’s gains, while

Japanese markets were closed for a holiday andthe United States was celebrating Columbus Day.“The market is consolidating after last week’s rallyalso because of the holidays in the US and Japan,”ActivTrades chief market analyst Carlo Alberto DeCasa said.

He said investors would be focusing on Chinesetrade balance data, but most of all on US economicstatistics later this week for more indications as towhen the Federal Reserve will increase rates, thereal focus for markets in recent weeks.

Rolls-Royce and Safran both dropped morethan 4 percent, with traders citing a negative

impact on those shares from media reports overthe weekend of a European regulatory investiga-tion into the airline maintenance market.Biotechnology group Novozymes fell 3.8 percentafter Goldman Sachs downgraded its shares to“sell” from “buy”.

Fiat rose 1.6 percent after the carmaker dis-closed pricing for the initial public offering ofFerrari that could value its luxury sport car unit atclose to $10 billion.

The strong gains in utilities E.ON and RWE helpedthe German blue-chip index DAX outperform Europe.The index, which remains some 20 percent below a

European stocks edge lower after rally