中國股市以下跌行情告別8月

China’s benchmark stock index closed down nearly 1 per cent on Monday, taking the combined losses for August to 12.5 per cent, following July’s fall of 14.3 per cent.

中國基準股指上證綜指週一收盤下跌近1%，這使得該指數的8月累計跌幅達到12.5%，7月總跌幅爲14.3%。

The smaller-cap Shenzhen Composite Index fell 3.1 per cent Monday, pushing it down 15.2 per cent in August, its worst monthly performance since August 2009.

市值較小的深證綜指週一下跌3.1%，8月累計下跌15.2%，爲自2009年8月以來最糟糕月度表現。

Monday’s fall came after a week of wild swings in which the Shanghai Composite index saw its largest two-day sell-off in more than two decades on Monday and Tuesday, but then rallied more than 10 per cent at the end of the week.

此前一週，上證綜指出現劇烈波動，在上週一和上週二遭遇20多年來最大兩日跌幅，但在上週尾聲反彈逾10%。

That rebound followed Beijing’s decision to cut interest rates and inject cash into the banking system by cutting the reserve requirement ratio — the portion of deposits banks must hold in reserve with the central bank.

在股市反彈之前，中國政府決定降息，並通過下調存款準備金率向銀行體系注入資金。

Chinese volatility spilled over into global markets as investors questioned the competence of Chinese policymakers and the true extent of the current slowdown in China.

中國股市的波動性蔓延至全球市場，投資者對中國政策制定者的能力以及中國經濟真實放緩程度提出質疑。

State-owned funds and institutions also helped the rally late last week by jumping into the market on Thursday to support falling prices, having stood on the sidelines earlier in the week.

上週四，國有基金和機構在此前幾天離場觀望後，進入市場支撐不斷下跌的股價，這也推動了上週結束時股市的回升。

“The market is not completely short of liquidity and it’s already started to stabilise after the [central bank] cut rates last week,” said Du Changchun, an analyst at Northeast Securities. “People also expect some support before major events like the upcoming victory day parade.”

“市場並不完全缺乏流動性，在（央行）上週降息後已開始趨穩，”東北證券(Northeast Securities)分析師杜長春表示，“人們還預測在即將到來的抗戰勝利紀念日閱兵等重大活動前夕，市場會獲得一些支撐。”

But Monday’s decline may have been partly influenced by a government decision, first reported in the Financial Times, to wind down this state-directed stock buying and focus instead on punishing people the government suspects of “manipulating markets.”

然而，週一的下跌可能在一定程度上受到中國政府做出的一項決定的影響，英國《金融時報》首次報道了這一消息：中國政府決定結束由政府主導的購股舉措，轉而專注於懲罰政府懷疑“操縱市場”的人員。

The huge share-buying programme that was launched at the start of July in the midst of a market rout has already seen government entities spend more than $200bn in a vain attempt to prop up over-priced stocks.

7月初，在市場暴跌之際，中國政府推出大規模購股計劃，政府機構已支出逾2000億美元支撐被高估的股票，但收效甚微。

Most of the shares bought by the government’s main rescue fund have fallen significantly in value since the fund bought them, according to Chinese media reports based on a partial analysis of its publicly-disclosed purchases.

根據中國媒體基於對公開披露的購股舉措的部分分析的報道，政府主要救市基金買入的大部分股票在買入後價格大幅下挫。

When the government announced its stock rescue package in early July it said it intended to defend a Shanghai Composite “bottom line” of 4,500 points.

7月初，當中國政府宣佈其救市計劃時，它表示計劃守住上證綜指的4500點“底線”。

The index closed Monday at 3,206 points, well below the high of 5,166 it reached in early June. The index is down slightly for the year to date but still up 45 per cent from this time a year ago, suggesting that stocks may have a much further to fall.

週一，上證綜指收於3206點，遠低於6月初觸及的5166點最高點。今年迄今，該指數略有下跌，但相比去年此時仍高出45%，似乎表明股價有進一步下跌空間。

On Monday, the market was down nearly 4 per cent at one point before staging a late rally that was driven by the largest cap stocks.

週一，上證綜指一度下跌近4%，而後在大盤股的推動下上演尾盤反彈。

Over the past two months, state-directed stock buyers have focused their efforts on large-cap stocks as they sought to prop up the benchmark index.

過去兩個月，聽從政府指示的股票買家在試圖提振基準股指時一直將購股舉措集中在大盤股上。

Monday’s late rebound was interpreted by some analysts as a sign that state-directed buying may not be completely over, despite the government’s decision to abandon large-scale purchases.

一些分析師認爲，週一的尾盤反彈表明，儘管中國政府決定放棄大規模購股舉措，但政府指示的買入行爲可能尚未完全結束。