By Yi Wei Wong
Stocks of Chinese sportswear makers declined in early trade Monday in the wake of weak e-commerce sales over the country’s June 18th shopping festival and ongoing uncertainty over further economic stimulus measures.
Anta Sports fell 4.5% to 87.45 Hong Kong dollars ($11.18), while Li Ning slid 5.1% to HK$47.05 and Topsports shed 4.2% to HK$7.12.
Sector stocks were up last week amid media reports that Beijing was close to unveiling new stimulus measures to prop up the world’s second-largest economy.
In a note over the weekend, Jefferies analysts said based on their checks, e-commerce growth for sportswear and home appliances brands overall came in at 10%-15% on year during China’s June 18th shopping festival, missing expectations and possibly leading to consumer cancellation rates reaching an all-time high.
“Judging by the initial rates of refunds and cancellations, we expect this 618 campaign to see one of the most significant downward revisions to gross merchandise value,” Jefferies adds.
A State Council meeting on Friday, yielded “no concrete stimulus,” Goldman Sachs Chief China Economist Hui Shan said in a note over the weekend. A State Council meeting on Friday, yielded “no concrete stimulus,” Goldman Sachs Chief China Economist Hui Shan said in a note.
While Premier Li Qiang called for a basket of easing measures, “the readout suggests to us that the government faces various economic and political constraints,” the economist wrote. “Going down the old route of boosting short-term growth with massive property and infrastructure stimulus goes against the top leadership’s ‘high quality growth’ model.”
Goldman Sachs lowered its full-year real GDP growth estimate for China to 5.4% from 6.0% previously.
Last week, official data also showed that China’s May retail data grew by 12.7% from a year ago, missing a 13.1% growth estimate by economists surveyed by the Wall Street Journal and slowing from a 18.4% rise in April.
Write to Yi Wei Wong at yiwei.wong@wsj.com
Corrections & Amplifications
This article was corrected at 0428 GMT to reflect that Li Qiang is the premier of China. The original article incorrectly referred to the former premier, Li Keqiang.
Li Qiang is the premier of China. “Chinese Sportswear Makers Decline Amid Weak E-Commerce Sales, Stimulus Uncertainty,” at 0349 GMT, incorrectly referred to the former premier, Li Keqiang.
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