Sawt Falasteen - Shanghai's elderly investors keep faith despite stock market woes

Asian and European equities collapsed on Monday after China retaliated to President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs against US trading partners, as fears grow that the trade war could cause a global recession.

Shanghai lost over seven percent, and on Tuesday the pensioners sat on plastic orange chairs in front of the screens, sipping tea from flasks and enthusiastically discussing the mauling.

"Yesterday I lost 50,000 yuan ($6,833) all at once," retired factory worker Jin told AFP.

With the Chinese monthly urban pension around $460, that is no small sum.

"It's very depressing," he said, but added that "investing in the stock market is like this".

China's government has taken steps to stabilise the market, announcing the central bank would support a major state-backed fund's share buy-back programme.

"I saw the news on TV yesterday... Then I had faith in the government, you know? Today is really good, it's stable," said Jin.

Shanghai advanced 1.6 percent on Tuesday.

A woman in her 80s who gave her surname as Lu said she had come to invest more after hearing about the government measures, though she said she was still "very worried".

"I think this time after (making some gains) I'll take it out, I can't believe it went down so fast," she said.

- 'Seen it all before' -

The branch of Hongta Securities that AFP visited is somewhat of an anomaly, a relic of the days when most small trading was done at in-person terminals.

It was used as a filming location for popular series Blossoms, which portrayed the city's breathless boom years after the Shanghai Stock Exchange opened in 1990.

Now-defunct stock screens covering both main walls hint at busier times.

These days, most visitors are pensioners, who prefer in-person trading to the new norm of doing so online.

Some stayed from market opening until close on Tuesday, forming a core -- and vociferous -- posse in the best seats under the screens.

Their age means they take a long view of current events.

"We've seen it all before, it's happened before," scoffed one woman, who did not give her name.

"We're indifferent!" her friend chimed in.

Wang, a retiree in his 70s, said his portfolio had suffered over the last few days, but that he was not too worried.

"It won't affect the average Chinese person's life," he said, adding he thought Americans would ultimately suffer more from the trade war.

"Ordinary people, or ordinary stockholders, have confidence in the country," said another man surnamed Wang.

Jin, the retired factory worker, said he expected the market to continue to fall for the time being if Trump did not change course.

But he saw a potential opportunity in that.

"Looking at the situation, you don't buy, you wait for the country's market to fall almost, then find a way in."

Y.Zaher--SF-PST