Tuesday, May 11, 2010

An important "tell" for the market

OK, PIIGS are flying and we have stepped back from the abyss - now what?

An important intermediate term "tell" for the future direction of the market is China, which has been the sole engine of growth in a growth-starved world since the Lehman crisis. Currently, the Shanghai Composite is not behaving well technically as it has broken down in numerous ways:



Lost in the noise that came out of Europe on the weekend was the news that the Agricultural Bank of China is expected to press ahead with world's largest IPO [emphasis mine]:

Agricultural Bank of China, aiming for the world's largest-ever initial public offering, will press ahead with its plans despite weak market sentiment, one of its underwriters said on Saturday.

Market jitters will probably delay the launch of an international board in Shanghai for the trading of overseas firms' shares, Li Jiange, chairman of China International Capital Corp, told reporters on the sidelines of a forum.

But when asked whether ABC might postpone its dual listing, which could be as big as US$30 billion, in Hong Kong and Shanghai, he said: "I think there will be no impact."
How the issue will be received will be an important barometer to the intermediate tone of global stock markets.

1 comment:

keithpiccirillo said...

Not coming out until this summer, but big institutions are probably counting on it:

http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/08/chinese-bank-wooed-as-it-prepares-largest-i-p-o/