May 19 (Bloomberg) -- Options traders are placing a record number of bearish bets against Chinese stocks as concern deepens that government measures to contain home prices and Europe’s debt crisis will curb earnings.
The open interest, or number of existing contracts, for so- called put options on the iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index Fund surged 24 percent in the past month to 2.15 million as of yesterday, data compiled by Bloomberg show. A gauge of demand for options that bet on a decline in the exchange traded fund and those profiting from a gain widened to the most since 2006 on May 17, Bloomberg data show.
The ETF, which holds shares of Chinese companies and trades on U.S. bourses, has dropped 14 percent from an April 9 high as Premier Wen Jiabao warned that policy makers will “decisively” rein in home-price gains and the government said the euro’s decline is pressuring exporters. Inflation will rise to near 3 percent this month, China’s economic planning agency predicted, raising concern the central bank will lift interest rates for the first time since 2007.
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