Tax Cut leads to surge in Chinese Indexes

Attempting to tackle a sharp decline in the indexes over the past months, the Chinese government reduced the tax on equity trading. In response the Shanghai Composite index surged 9.3% - an increase that is almost certainly temporary. The broader issues with lofty valuations, lack of transparency, and macro-economic issues driving the fortunes of companies in Asia remain unaddressed by this regulatory action.

Investors were delighted with the government action; however it did not boost the long term confidence in the stock market for most individuals. Smart investors will take advantage of the surge to exit their positions over the next week. Slower earnings growth and higher costs do not bode well for company results in upcoming quarters.

“The government is clearly concerned about the meltdown,'' said James Liu, Shanghai-based deputy chief investment officer at APS Asset Management, which oversees $1 billion. ``It's positive for the market in the short run.''

The primary words to focus on are “short run”. Simply reducing the stamp duty on stock trading to 0.1 percent from 0.3 percent will not eliminate the headwinds facing the market, nor change the primary trend of the stock market which is down.

Despite the optimism expressed from financial pundits, the proclamations that this denotes the market bottom are likely to backfire within the next couple of weeks. Certainly the government is pleased with this cheerleading from the financial sector, because after all markets are in reality a confidence game.

Chinese stocks soar after tax reduction

Few analysts believe share prices will reach a new high this year, but many investors and analysts are hoping the worst is over. Hoping and reality normally run on diverging tracks.