Wild Year in China Markets Ends With Record Defaults and Dull Yuan
- Stocks have traded range-bound since surging to start 2019
- Signs economy has stabilized give reason for optimism ahead
Pedestrians walk past the Bund Bull statue as skyscrapers of the Pudong Lujiazui Financial District stand across the Huangpu River in Shanghai.
Photographer: Qilai Shen/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
It was a bumpy year for China’s markets, considering all the turbulence in relations with the U.S. Still, the final results really aren’t bad.
The Shanghai Composite Index closed off its best year since 2014, boosted by a huge rally in the first few months, when the country’s major equity benchmarks entered a bull market. While the yuan was whipsawed at times by every twist and turn in the trade dispute, it’s only weakened about 1.3% the past 12 months. Sovereign bonds rose, but lagged bigger gains in government-bond markets elsewhere.