No changes in Covid approach from China

Awaited press conference of Chinese State Council turned out to be disappointment. In spite of some media chatter that Council may announce easing of Covid restrictions, no major announcement was made. China will speed up vaccination of elderly people (above 80 years old). An important takeaway is that Chinese officials said that in their opinion public outrage is not about restrictions as a whole but about "one size fits all" approach to restrictions. This could hint that China will move to a more targeted measures but no clear announcement was made so it is only speculation.

Markets did not see any reaction following the press conference. Indices pulled back slightly but mostly hold onto previous gains, spurred by hopes of easing restrictions. CHNComp continues to trade over 3% higher on the day and near the 6,150 mark.

CHNComp pulled back slightly after the Chinese State Council failed to announce easing of restrictions (orange circle). Source: xStation5