China earnings pain erodes optimism over a rebound

Investors in Chinese stocks are losing patience as a long-awaited earnings recovery fails to come through and a rally unravels. Earnings estimates on key Chinese gauges have been slashed by the most in Asia this year as a deepening housing slump and sluggish retail sales hurt confidence. Stocks have lost momentum following a mid-May peak, with the MSCI China Index down more than 8%. “We’ve now seen 11 straight quarters of earnings misses for MSCI China and the analyst consensus hasn’t really gotten to grips with just how weak the underlying growth environment is in China,” Jonathan Garner, strategist for Morgan Stanley, said. “You have to be selective to be involved in China. There’s also more competition going on, particularly in sectors like e-commerce.”