A Financial Roundup of the Chinese New Year
Yicai Global
DATE:  Feb 12 2019
/ SOURCE:  yicai
A Financial Roundup of the Chinese New Year A Financial Roundup of the Chinese New Year


Chinese Equities Gain as the Year of the Pig Gets Under Way.

The Chinese stock market opened today for the time after the Spring Festival. The Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.4 percent, while the Shenzhen Component Index gained 3 percent. The ChiNext Price Index, which tracks Shenzhen's growth companies, rose 3.5 percent.

The Shanghai index has slumped by almost a quarter over the last year after hitting a 12-year high on the first trading day following the holiday last year. The market showed obvious signs of recovery before this year's Spring Festival. Shanghai has gained 4.7 percent in the past month.

CCTV's New Year Gala Draws 1.2 Billion Viewers

This year's Chunwan, the spring festival gala hosted by state-run China Central Television, went live on 239 domestic television channels and reached 162 countries and regions through 218 overseas partners on Feb. 4, which was Chinese New Year's Eve this year. A total of 1.2 billion viewers from all over the world watched the show during the live broadcast through TV, internet, social media and other channels, which was 42 million more than last year.

Mobile Payment Steps Up to Meet the Challenge of New Year Money Gifting

China's online platforms handled more than 44,000 cross institutional transactions per second in the peak hours of Feb. 5, Chinese New Year's Day. Transactions peaked at three seconds after midnight.

Chinese Box Office Receipts Top USD888.2 Million Over Spring Festival

As of 10 a.m. today, cinema box offices had taken in more than CNY6 billion (USD888.2 million) over the Chinese New Year holiday, beating last year's record of CNY5.8 billion. The science fiction movie, the Wandering Earth, took the most for a single feature at CNY2.1 billion.

Baltic Dry Index Suffers Selloffs

The Baltic Dry Index fell for 13 consecutive days from Jan. 18 to Feb. 5, with a drop of nearly 42 percent, suggesting a slowdown in global economic activity and a weakening trading environment.

The International Monetary Fund lowered its forecast for world economic growth on Jan. 21, trimming the projection for this year by 0.2 percentage point to 3.5 percent and that of next year by 0.1 point to 3.6 percent.

Bank of England Keeps Benchmark Rate Unchanged at 0.75%

The Bank of England will keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 0.75 percent, it said in a statement on Feb. 7. Its Monetary Policy Committee unanimously agreed to maintain the GBP435 billion (USD562.4 billion) of asset purchases. The central bank cut its economic growth forecast for this year and next, citing a weaker global economy and rising uncertainty over the UK's looming exit from the European Union.

BB&T to Acquire Sun Trust in Banking's Largest M&A Deal in a Decade

BB&T will acquire Sun Trust in an all-stock transaction, the two large US regional banks said in a joint statement on Feb. 7. The USD28.2 billion deal is the biggest merger and acquisition in banking for 10 years. The new bank will become the sixth largest commercial lender in the US.

Follow Yicai Global on
Keywords:   Chinese New Year