SHANGHAI, Feb 1, 2026, 00:24 GMT+8 — Market closed
- ICBC’s Shanghai-listed Class A shares ended slightly lower on Friday at 7.25 yuan.
- A weekend PMI miss put growth and credit demand back in focus for Chinese banks.
- Investors watch Feb. 2 private-sector PMI data and any policy follow-through.
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd’s Shanghai-listed Class A shares ended lower on Friday, with China’s weaker factory survey now setting up the next session. The stock closed at 7.25 yuan, down 0.14%, according to Shanghai Stock Exchange data. (Shanghai Stock Exchange)
The move matters because ICBC sits at the centre of China’s credit system. When macro data softens, investors tend to trade the big state lenders as a blunt proxy for growth and policy risk.
Banks are also caught in a narrow lane. Slower activity can cool loan demand and raise worries about bad loans, while easier monetary policy can squeeze profitability through net interest margin — the gap between what banks earn on loans and pay on deposits.
Peers were mixed on Friday. China Construction Bank slipped 0.57% and Agricultural Bank of China fell 0.88%, while Bank of China was flat, SSE quotes showed. In Hong Kong, ICBC’s H-shares dropped 2.26%, adding to the cautious tone into the weekend. (Shanghai Stock Exchange)
China’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) — a monthly survey that tracks activity across factories — fell to 49.3 in January from 50.1 in December, while the non-manufacturing gauge came in at 49.4, an official release showed on Saturday. Ting Lu, chief China economist at Nomura, wrote that “Beijing will have to do much more in coming months” to keep growth on track. (Reuters)
For bank stocks, the PMI slip is a reminder that support measures can take time to show up in lending and cashflow. It also reopens the question of how far policymakers will go on rates and liquidity, and who absorbs the cost.
There was also fresh focus on financial-sector backstops. China is planning to issue about 200 billion yuan ($28.8 billion) in special government bonds to recapitalise its largest state-controlled insurers, Bloomberg News reported, and Reuters said it could not immediately verify the report. Reuters also noted a separate finance ministry plan last year to inject about $72 billion into major state banks. (Reuters)
Still, the downside case is not hard to sketch. If demand stays weak, banks can end up rolling credit to keep borrowers afloat, while price competition and rate cuts compress margins — a mix that weighs on earnings even if headline growth stabilises.
Trading is set to restart on Monday, with investors looking first to follow-through from Saturday’s data and any policy signals that come with it. The next early read is the private-sector RatingDog PMI, due on Feb. 2, after a Reuters poll flagged factory activity as likely to stall at the start of the year. (Reuters)
