Chinese stocks rose on Thursday in volatile trading ahead of a weekend press briefing from the country’s finance minister, as the central bank launched a facility to make it easier to buy shares. The benchmark CSI 300 index rose almost 3 per cent on Thursday after closing down 7 per cent on Wednesday in its first loss in 11 consecutive sessions. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was up 4.2 per cent after posting its worst daily loss since 2008 on Tuesday and falling further on Wednesday.
“The market is certainly looking for hints of more policy support coming”, said Jason Lui, head of Asia-Pacific equities and derivatives strategy at BNP Paribas. China’s central bank moved forward on Thursday with a scheme to enable domestic financial companies to buy more stocks, a tool designed to stabilise the market and shore up liquidity.