The stocks of a little-known Chinese company whose name sounds like “Trumps wins” big have risen as Donald Trump started widening his lead over Democrat Hillary Clinton on Wednesday morning.
China’s stock market had a rollercoaster ride overnight as the tightening race for the White House unfolded.
However, shares in Shenzhen-listed Wisesoft saw a surge of nearly10 per cent around mid-morning, even as the wider market fell.It
The apparent reason for the company’s good fortune is its name - "chuan da zhi sheng" is a homophone for "Trump wins big".
Sichuan province-based Wisesoft focuses on software development and has no apparent business ties with Trump or Clinton.
"This is a unique A-share phenomenon, when investors make speculation based on any reason except for the fundamentals," Deng Wenyuan, an analyst at Soochow Securities told the Wall Street Journal.
Meanwhile, the Yunnan Xiyi Industrial company, whose name sounds like the Mandarin word for "Hillary shares" was not so lucky.
Its shares plunged 9.5 per cent on the Shenzen stock exchange as the Republican's odds at winning improved.
Asian markets sank overnight with Japan's Nikkei closing down more than 5 per cent lower and Hong Kong's Hang Seng off by 2 per cent. Meanwhile, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index closed nearly 1 per cent lower.
Donald Trump has shattered expectations on Wednesday achieving one of the most improbable political victories in modern US history with analysts saying it was “Brexit all over again”.
Joshua Raymond, analysts at XTB.com, said: “The outcome of this contest has seemingly caught the markets off guard in a repeat of the Brexit vote with forecasters and reputable pollsters wide of the mark once more in their predictions.”
