Stocks Rise As China Signals More Stimulus, Billionaire David Tepper Bets Big On 'Everything' China-Related

Chinese stocks continue to enjoy a lift Thursday following a monetary stimulus announced earlier this week.

What Happened: To meet China's economic growth target of approximately 5% this year, leaders promised to deploy "necessary fiscal spending," per Reuters.

The 24-man Politburo meeting did not provide details on fiscal spending. Reuters reported Thursday that China is planning to issue 2 trillion yuan ($284 billion) of special sovereign bonds this year in an effort to stimulate the consumer.

The report also indicates that the Ministry of Finance plans to issue 1 trillion yuan of special sovereign debt primarily aimed at stimulating consumption. Some of the proceeds raised through the issuance of these bonds are expected to be used to increase subsidies for consumer goods renewals and business equipment upgrades.

Funds will also be used to provide roughly 800 yuan per child to households with two or more children.

China also plans to inject another 1 trillion yuan to help local governments with debt problems.

The moves out of China mark the country's latest attempt to revive an economy that has battled deflationary pressures and growth headwinds due to property declines and wavering consumer confidence.

Chinese leaders said the stimulus is aimed at putting an end to declines in the housing market and pushing economic growth toward its 5% goal. Chinese authorities also reportedly plan to increase support for small and medium-sized businesses to help lower operating costs.

According to a separate report from Bloomberg News, China is also considering injecting up to 1 trillion yuan into its biggest state banks to help expand lending capacity, primarily through the issuance of new special sovereign bonds.

"This is a different type of stimulus," said Hao Hong, chief economist at Grow Investment Group.

"If done through special bond issuance it's a fiscal stimulus and can stabilize the banks as property prices continue to decline. It will ensure that the banks lending capability won't be affected."

Why It Matters: Several China-based stocks are surging Thursday on a more optimistic outlook for economic growth, led by some of the biggest online retail names.

At the time of writing:

  • Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE: BABA) was up 8.16% at $103.26
  • JD.com Inc (NASDAQ: JD) was up 13.5% at $37.68 and
  • PDD Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: PDD) was up 9.7% at $125.05.
Chinese EV stocks were also getting a significant lift Thursday morning:

  • NIO Inc (NYSE: NIO) up 5.31% at $5.95
  • Li Auto Inc (NYSE: LI) up 10.1% at $26.12 and
  • XPeng Inc (NYSE: XPEV) up 12.9% at $11.78.
Billionaire David Tepper suggested in a TV appearance that he's building a large position in Chinese equities.

"I didn't know that they were going to bring out the big guns," Tepper said on CNBC's "Squawk Box." "When that came in, we got a little bit longer ... more Chinese stocks. And so I have limits, historic limits, that I probably set a long time ago. I don't go above 10% or 15%. Well, that's probably not true anymore."

The valuations of China stocks are exceptionally low, even after the jump in China this week, Tepper added. A lot of China-based companies have single-digit price-to-earnings multiples and double-digit growth rates.

While Tepper boasted that he's buying "everything" in China, he didn't name specific companies. He did say his firm Appaloosa Management, has been adding to Wynn Resorts (NYSE: WYNN) and Las Vegas Sands Corp (NYSE: LVS), which have heavy exposure to China.

Wynn Resorts was up more than 7% at last check, while Las Vegas Sands shares were up about 5.5%.