National team falls flat, pork jitters, policy “irrigation”

The benchmark Shanghai Composite equity index this week returned to the low point reached in the equity collapse of early 2016. Official efforts to shore up the market have proved predictably ineffective. But the broader macro implications of the equity slide are limited. Meanwhile, the State Council promised not to overdo the policy stimulus “irrigation”, which suggests that market interest rates may not fall much further. Finally, pork prices may once again be about to become a key concern.