Many Chinese Consumer Stocks Hit RecordsChinese alcohol, sportswear, travel and home-appliance stocks are reaching records, reflecting rising confidence about the outlook for consumer spending in the world’s second-biggest economy.The pattern is echoed in both U.S. and European markets where, despite worries of slowing growth, consumer stocks are among the best performers. The S&P 500’s consumer-discretionary index is up 22% this year, compared with a 19% rise for the S&P 500. The MSCI Europe Consumer Discretionary Index has risen 7% while the MSCI Europe Sector is up 11%.Still, the rally in China is striking given broader concerns about the country’s slowing growth, trade tensions and a rapid run-up in corporate debt.Arthur Kwong, head of Asia- Pacific equities at BNP Paribas Asset Management, said many companies had grown in experience, established strong brands and begun generating strong cash flows after earlier phases of heavy investment. “I’m a big fan of China’s consumer sector,’’ Mr. Kwong said, pointing to drinks, sportswear, travel and instant-noodle companies.The market gains span companies providing goods considered staples, such as food and drink, and those specializing in discretionary items such as refrigerators or vacations, and are partly a reversal of a steep selloff last year.Shares of Shanghai-listed Kweichow Moutai Co., a distiller of the potent Chinese spirit baijiu, have risen about 65% this year. Stocks of several of the company’s smaller rivals, such as Wuliangye Yibin Co., have more than doubled. China International Travel Service Corp., the nation’s biggest travel agent, has risen 50%.These and other mainland stocks, such as Foshan Haitian Flavouring & Food Co., airconditioner maker Gree Electric Appliances Inc. and cookware specialist Zhejiang Supor Co., all have hit records in . In New York, e-commerce behemoth Alibaba Group Holding has risen 26%. Like U.S. rival , it is considered a consumer-discretionary stock by major index providers.Louis Lau, director of investments at Brandes Investment Partners, said many makers of baijiu had shown solid growth in sales and profit, with healthy consumer demand helping them to push through price increases.The gains also contrast with signs of weakness in other parts of the consumer economy. These include falling car sales, declining imports, a slackening housing market and even some public anxiety about the affordability of small luxuries.Cars and houses are big-ticket items, making them more sensitive to even small shifts in consumer confidence and more dependent on the cost and availability of credit. That has made these markets more exposed to Beijing’s efforts in recent years to rein in the country’s big shadow-banking sector. Auto sales have slumped for 12 straight months, partly dented by market saturation in major urban centers and a credit crunch in smaller cities.Some money managers say consumer stocks also have benefited as investors switched money out of other sectors, like technology hardware, that are more exposed to U.S. import tariffs and other trade frictions. Sungho Im, chief executive at asset-management firm IM Capital Partners Ltd., said consumer-goods companies were likely to deliver more sustainable growth than firms in industries facing bigger trade or regulatory headaches, and so foreign investors favored Chinese spirits, food and travel companies.Wall Street Journal/ 545 words / Aug 1
报课或学习交流，请扫描上方二维码，加小编微信，备注“英文杂志精选”
爱我，请给我“好看”
