China ETFs Jump On Government Reform Afterglow

Monday was a pretty sluggish day in the U.S. equity markets, as solid trading in the morning gave way to some losses to close the session. Foreign securities, on the other hand, managed to hold up a little better with emerging markets and many European countries finishing the session in the green.

In particular though, one country stood out for its solid performance once again in Monday’s session, China. The country is still basking in the afterglow of reforms announced last week, and bulls are pushing stocks in the nation higher once more.

China Reforms in Focus

The reforms focused on a number of issues, including ending labor camps, but centered on an easing of the country’s infamous one child policy. The nation plans to scrap this restriction for couples in which at least one member is an only child, potentially leading to huge demographic gains far down the road.

The news of these reforms helped to propel shares of Chinese companies higher in Friday trading, and apparently to even greater heights in Monday’s session as well. In particular though, the financial sector in the country was a big winner as fresh reforms appear to be on the horizon for this key segment to start the week, with a focus on opening up capital accounts, and accelerating interest rate reform.

Top Performing China ETFs

Large cap focused China ETFs stole the show in Monday’s session with the ultra-popular FTSE China 25 Index Fund (FXI) jumping close to 3.6% on the session. Volume was also excessive in Monday trading, as close to 50 million shares moved hands on the day compared to just under 20 million on average.

Other China large cap focused funds also saw solid trading sessions though, in particular (MCHI), (GXC), and (FCHI). All three of these added at least 2.3% on the day, while FCHI moved higher by close to 3.2% for the session.

The real winner on the day was the Global X China Financials ETF (CHIX), as this fund soared by 4.2% on the session. Once again, volume was robust with roughly two times as many shares moving hands on the day, as investors piled into this fund as a go-to way to benefit from China’s announced reforms.

However, investors should note that the technology sector lagged heavily on the day. This is a bit surprising, as China ETF ETFs were actually leading the way for much of the year and were star performers compared to their peers in the nation.

In fact the Guggenheim China Technology ETF (CQQQ) and the Global X China Technology ETF (QQQC) were among the worst performers in China for the session. CQQQ only added 0.6% on the day, while QQQC lost about 0.4%, and though both are still up more than 50% YTD, this slump on an up-day for China is certainly discouraging.

Bottom Line

The new round of reforms was well-received by the market, pushing many China ETFs sharply higher. This is because both the long-term (thanks to the one child policy easing), and the short term (due to structural reform promises particularly in the financial sector) now appear brighter for the nation, while emerging market sentiment appears to be on the upswing as well.

Just note that the real bullishness from this reform plan was focused in on the large cap segment of the market, and the financial sector. Not all corners of the China market benefited equally from this news release, so we may be witnessing a bit of a shift in the China ETF market in the near term if these trends continue.

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