China Traders Borrow Most Cash Since 2015 to Bet on Stock Gains

(Bloomberg) -- Chinese investors are loading up on leverage to speculate in the stock market at the fastest pace in more than five years.

They pushed outstanding margin debt on domestic exchanges to more than 1.2 trillion yuan ($171 billion) as of Monday. The figure rose 36.7 billion yuan from July 3, the biggest increase since January 2015.

The surge in leverage shows how keen investors are to get in on this nearly unprecedented equities rally. Monday’s surge added more than $460 billion to Chinese stock values, behind just one day in July 2015 as the biggest increase in shareholder wealth since the global financial crisis.

On Tuesday, daily stock turnover neared 1.7 trillion yuan, the highest level since June 2015.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

With assistance from Bloomberg