Top China Stock Forecaster Sees Brighter Outlook for 2018
- Zhu Bin targets 13 percent gain on earnings, more mergers
- Shanghai shares have lagged behind global peers this year
Investors stand at trading terminals in front of electronic stock boards at a securities brokerage in Shanghai, China, on Oct. 13.
Photographer: Qilai Shen/BloombergChinese stock investors can expect a better performance next year as earnings growth picks up and MSCI Inc. includes the country’s equities in its benchmark indexes, according to the most accurate forecaster for 2017.
Zhu Bin, strategist for Southwest Securities Co., predicts the Shanghai Composite Index will climb to 3,700 by the end of 2018, implying a 13 percent gain from Monday’s close, helped by an increase in mergers. A year ago, he successfully forecast a deleveraging campaign would weigh on the nation’s equities, picking 3,300 as his year-end target. The gauge, which has trailed most major global benchmarks this year with an advance of just over 6 percent, closed at 3,296.54 on Tuesday.