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China’s attempts to decree that share prices shall rise worked well for one day, but came unstuck on the second day.
A number of companies, however, have found ways of avoiding having their share price trashed; they’ve suspended trading in them.
According to Chinese publication the Securities Times, trading in more than a quarter of the A-class shares listed on the Shanghai and Shenzen Exchanges was suspended in the last week.
Since Monday’s close, more than 200 companies have requested a trading halt, as share prices continue to plummet. Since June 12, around US$3,000bn has been wiped from the value of the Chinese stock market.
Over the weekend the authorities decided enough was enough, and introduced a number of measures designed to restore the Shanghai Composite index above 4,500; today the index shed 49 points to close at 3,727.
Closer to home, the Daily Telegraph – never a fan of European membership – carries an opinion piece from failed parliamentary candidate Nigel Farage that claims the European Union “is dying before our eyes”.
Successful parliamentary candidate (and Chancellor of the Exchequer) George Osborne has taken time out from preparing for tomorrow’s Budget speech to advise British holiday makers heading for Greece on what to include in their packing.
Wads of euros, obviously, but caring George has also advised travellers to take full supplies of prescription medicines before heading to Hellas with a hand-basket.
An emergency meeting of Eurozone political big-wigs is taking place in Brussels tonight in order to come up with a solution to the crisis, and Osborne thinks that if no signs emerge from these meetings of a willingness to resume debt negotiations, then “we can expect the financial situation in Greece to deteriorate rapidly”.
Medical equipment maker Smiths Group (LON:SMIN) is back in the news and, for once, it is not some tired old hack exhuming decades old speculation about a break-up of the company.
The company has named its new chief executive officer (CEO), and his name is Smith: Andrew Reynolds Smith. He succeeds Philip Bowman, who is retiring after eight years with his hand on the tiller at Smith’s.
Smith – the man, not the company – is currently CEO of GKN Automotive, a division of hard-pressed engineering group GKN. He will be on a base salary of £780,000 a year and will be eligible for an annual bonus of up to 1.8 times his salary, one third of which would be in the form of the deferred award of Smith’s shares.
It is fair to say the City has not endorsed the appointment with any enthusiasm, and the shares are down 3% at the time of writing.
Small cap companies garnering interest this morning include Xtract Resources (LON:XTR), where the company had revealed improved recoveries from test work at its Fair Bride prospect, and IT services provider Kainos Group, which has priced its initial public offering at 139p a share, placing a stock market value on the company of around £161mln.
London pre-open
Britain's top share index is called to open higher after falling yesterday as eyes turn to a crunch emergency meeting tonight over Greece.
It is billed as the last throw of the dice for Athens to present a set of terms that its creditors can agree with over its debt repayments.
The talks will not feature controversial finance minister Yanis Varoufakis, who resigned following a referendum on Sunday, in which two thirds of the country voted a resounding "no" to agreeing to the previous set of bailout terms.
It could be a long day. The meeting is crunch as Greek banks will reportedly run out of money as of Wednesday night.
Meanwhile, the Greek saga pulled European indices down on Monday, with the FTSE100 losing 50 points at 6,536. Today, financial spread betters are calling it to open around 16 points higher, however.
In Germany, the DAX closed 167 points lower, while in Asia overnight it was a mixed picture.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 soared 270 points to 20,382, but China's Shanghai composite index dropped 120 at 3,656 and was losing ground further at the time of writing. The recent share sell-off of Chinese equities has been well documented and the authorities' attempts to stem the blood bath have not been effective. It has now pledged to get the index back to 4,500. Measures included companies suspending IPOs.
On the corporate front, a trading update from High Street bellwether Marks & Spencer (LON:MKS) is sure to be scrutinised.
While the food offering has come on in leaps & bounds under Marc Bolland’s watch, the clothing division remains problematic and the chief executive’s brow is likely to be knitted even tighter on Tuesday when the socks & knickers seller brings out a trading update that is expected to show cool weather in May and June put a crimp on sales.