Chinese shares led gains in Asian equities after the nation’s top leaders signaled bolder stimulus next year to revive the struggling economy.
China’s benchmark equity gauge jumped as much as 3.3% at the open before trimming its advance. Stocks in South Korea and Japan also rallied, while those in Australia fell.
Iron ore climbed the most in two months thanks to Beijing’s announcement as the country is a major commodity importer. China’s sovereign bond yields sank to a record low.
President Xi Jinping’s decision-making Politburo vowed to embrace a “moderately loose” monetary policy in 2025, signaling more rate cuts ahead and shifting from a “prudent” strategy that’s held for nearly 14 years.
Investors will now shift focus to China’s annual closed-door Central Economic Work Conference scheduled to start Wednesday.
“What they’re really targeting now with this monetary loosing is something that will address the consumer, and that’s really the crux of where the problems have been,” Burns McKinney, a senior portfolio manager at NFJ Investment Group LLC, said on Bloomberg Television.
“If they can do that, then they can really harness of a burgeoning and growing middle class in China.”
