(ECNS) -- A survey shows that 8.8 percent of Chinese households invested in the stock market in the second quarter. Among the approximately 37 million shareholding households, 93.8 percent were urban.
The Survey and Research Center for China Household Finance published the household finance report for the second quarter of 2015 after canvassing approximately 5,000 Chinese households amid a recent slump in the local stock market, the 21st Century Business Herald reported on Thursday.
The report notes that households remain confident in the stock market and show prudence in cutting holdings, despite not many making investments on loans. However, the stock market had great implications for the finances of Chinese households in the second quarter.
From the first quarter of 2014 to the same quarter this year, an increasing proportion of households gained profits from the stock market, while a lower proportion of households earned money in the second quarter of 2015.
Before the stock market nose-dived on June 19, 73.8 percent of households investing in the market gained profits, while the proportion fell to 56.2 percent between June 19 and June 26, and dipped further to 40.5 percent after June 26.
A previous bullish stock market had resulted, as of the end of the first quarter of 2015, in continuous expectations by Chinese households about a rise in the stock market and a fall in housing prices, said Gan Li, director of the Survey and Research Center for China Household Finance.
That trend has reversed in the second quarter, as shareholding households now expect a rise in housing prices and have become more reluctant to predict a rebound in the stock market, he added.
Also, a first-quarter survey indicates a similar proportion in terms of housing purchases among households investing and those not investing in the stock market. However, in the second quarter, the proportion of shareholding households that bought a property in the same quarter rose to 3.7 percent from 2.3 percent in the first quarter, while slightly fewer households that did not invest in the stock market bought a property during the second quarter compared with the previous quarter.
"When we conducted the survey at the end of the first quarter, almost none of the households canvassed bought a property," Gan said. "By contrast, during the survey for the second quarter, from June 15 to July 2, a good many questioned have already bought new properties. That happened to be when the stock market began to nose-dive."
Moreover, some households showed a greater awareness of risks on the stock market and were more willing to reduce their holdings in the second quarter, the report states.
