China Stocks Rise After Better-Than-Expected Economic Data, RRR Cut

STOCK - SHANGHAI. China stocks rose slightly on Friday, after data showed the country's recovery is stabilising, while the central bank's decision to cut the amount of cash that banks must hold as reserves also helped sentiment.

The blue-chip CSI 300 Index was up 0.2%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index climbed 1% in early morning trade.

China's industrial output and retail sales growth in August both beat expectations, suggesting the recent flurry of support measures may be starting to slowly stabilise a stumbling economic recovery.

Meanwhile, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) said it would cut the reserve requirement ratio (RRR) for all banks, except those that have implemented a 5% reserve ratio, by 25 basis points from Friday.

"We think this moderate RRR cut is a further sign that the PBOC and top policymakers have become increasingly concerned about the ongoing economic downward spiral," said Ting Lu, chief China economist at Nomura.

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Shares in banks, healthcare, and infrastructure added between 1% and 1.5% to lead the gains.

Energy shares jumped 1.7% in Hong Kong, as oil prices rose to their highest level in 10 months following China's latest measures to boost recovery.

However, some analysts say the RRR cut is not enough to revive growth and investor sentiment, which is also shown in the mild 0.2% gain in the mainland stock benchmark on Friday.

"Although these easing measures are very welcome, they are definitely not enough to turn things fully around ... the real problem is the lack of effective credit demand instead of lack of credit supply," Nomura's Lu said.

So far on Friday, foreign investors were still net sellers on Chinese stocks via the Stock Connect scheme.