HONG KONG (MarketWatch) — Chinese stocks swung between gains and losses Thursday morning after a previous heavy sell-off, with the Shanghai Composite Index starting down 2.1% and falling as hard as 3.8% in the first few minutes, but then turning higher and rebounding 0.5%. The Chinese central government and the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) unveiled a bunch of new measures to stem market rout, including the PBOC providing loans to the state-backed margin financing entity — China Securities Financing Corporation, the top securities regulator banning large shareholders from reducing their stakes on stock markets within six months, and the police department launching a joint investigation with the securities regulator against “malicious short-selling of stocks.” In Hong Kong, the benchmark Hang Seng Index staged a strong rebound after a previous 5.8% loss, up 3.8%. The mainland-China-tracking Hang Seng China Enterprises also bounced back 3.4%. Chinese brokerage firms mostly soared, with Southwest Securities International Securities Ltd. soaring 34%, Guotai Junan International Holdings Ltd. surging 16.3%, Shenwan Hongyuan H.K. Ltd. spiking 14.3%, and Citic Securities Co. Ltd. leaping 12.3%. Chinese property stocks also shined, as Poly Property Group Co. Ltd. jumped 10%, index component China Overseas Land & Investment Ltd. climbed 8.7%, and China Resources Land Ltd. , also a Hang Seng constituent, gained 5.3%. Among other market movers, Bourse operator Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd. advanced 8.7%, index heavyweight and Chinese online major Tencent Holdings Ltd. rose 7.4%, and telecoms giant China Mobile Ltd. snagged a 5.3% gain.
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