China’s Sudden Stock Rally Points to ETF Buying by State Funds

(Bloomberg) — Chinese equity benchmarks rebounded in afternoon trading, with a jump in turnover in some major exchange-traded funds raising speculation that buying by state money may be behind the reversal.

Traded value of the Huatai-Pinebridge CSI 300 ETF surged to 15.3 billion yuan ($2.1 billion) on Thursday, the highest since 2015, while those for Harvest CSI 300 Index ETF and E Fund CSI 300 ETF also saw extraordinary spikes. That coincided with gains in the CSI 300 benchmark of mainland shares, which closed 1.4% higher after declining as much as 1.8%.