Rebound in consumer confidence

Shanghai's consumer and investor confidence rebounded in the third quarter, remaining in positive territory, according to a survey released on Wednesday.

The latest Shanghai University of Finance and Economics quarterly Consumer Confidence in Shanghai index rose 4.1 points from the second quarter to 122.5 points for the July-September period. 

The university's Index of Investor Confidence, meanwhile, rose to 116.18 points, 9.57 points higher than the second quarter. 

For both indexes, a reading above 100 shows optimism, below indicates pessimism.

The stronger consumer confidence in Shanghai’s economy was mainly attributed to the overall stable domestic economy and robust development in innovation and the application of information technology in spite of the complex international situation, said Xu Guoxiang, director of the university’s Applied Statistics Research Center.

Xu also highlighted the higher sub-index for employment evaluation at 129.3 points, an advance of 4.3 points month on month and up 6.1 points compared with a year earlier, reaching its highest level since the survey was launched, indicating that the city's employment situation is increasingly stable.

A sub-index of purchase intentions picked up 3.7 points from the previous quarter to 85.7 points, reversing an earlier slump.

The index measuring home-buying intentions dipped 2.2 points from the second quarter to 67.2 points, but posted a sharp year-on-year rise of 15 points.

The intention to buy cars climbed to 86.9 points from 81.8 points in the previous quarter but was down 1.8 points from a year earlier, while that for durable goods rebounded 8.3 points from April-June to 103 points, indicating a recovery in domestic demand.

The rally in the investor index indicated a more positive attitude on their part, mainly due to the policy priority to "stabilize employment, finance, foreign trade, foreign investment, investment and market expectations" (collectively known as the “six stabilities”), said Xu and Chang Ning, a professor at the university's school of statistics and management.

"At the same time, trade tensions between China and the US have eased to some extent. Exports were better than expected and macroeconomic fundamentals remained stable," they said.

The SSE STAR Market began trading in late July, boosting the investment value of the A-share markets. Coupled with the continued inflow of foreign capital, the market posted a large amount of turnover, and investors have seen higher earnings. These positive factors lifted the confidence of investors as well, they added.