China, Hong Kong stocks slip as global coronavirus cases surpass one million

China Resources Gas

03/04/2020 05:58

* SSEC -0.3%, CSI300 -0.3%, HSI -0.6%
    * HK->Shanghai Connect daily quota used 0.6%, Shanghai->HK
daily
quota used 0%
    * FTSE China A50 -0.3%

    SHANGHAI, April 3(Reuters) - China and Hong Kong stocks fell
on Friday, as coronavirus worries continued to pressure the
markets with infections surpassing one million globally. 
    ** At the midday break, the Shanghai Composite index  .SSEC 
was down 0.33% at 2,771.34 points. 
    ** China's blue-chip CSI300 index  .CSI300  was down 0.27%,
with its financial sector sub-index  .CSI300FS  lower by 0.71%,
the consumer staples sector  .CSI000912  was up 1.1%, the real
estate index  .CSI000952  had gained 0.08% and the healthcare
sub-index  .CSI300HC  was up 1.97%.
    ** Chinese H-shares listed in Hong Kong  .HSCE  fell 0.51%
to 9,477.57, while the Hang Seng Index  .HSI  was down 0.6% at
23,141.47. 
    ** The smaller Shenzhen index  .SZSC  was down 0.23% and the
start-up board ChiNext Composite index  .CNT  was weaker by
0.3%.
    ** Global coronavirus cases surpassed 1 million on Thursday
with more than 52,000 deaths as the pandemic further exploded in
the United States and the death toll climbed in Spain and Italy,
according to a Reuters tally of official data.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2BQ2S9  
    ** Latest survey of China's economy also pointed to more
signs of damage from the pandemic. 
    ** China's services sector struggled to get back on its feet
in March after a brutal month of unprecedented shop closures and
public lockdowns amid the coronavirus outbreak, a private survey
showed on Friday.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nZRN000BN0  
    ** "There are signs of lasting damage to domestic demand,
and on top of that the external shock resulting from widespread
lockdowns in other major economies is arriving fast and
furious," analysts from Societe Generale said in a note on
Thursday, noting Beijing's stimulus policy response has been
"incremental". 
    ** Business activity in Hong Kong deteriorated further in
March, a private survey showed on Friday, as demand, output and
confidence plunged amid the deepening coronavirus pandemic.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nZRN000BMT 
    ** The top official in Wuhan, the epicentre of the
coronavirus epidemic in China, warned residents to strengthen
self-protection measures and avoid going out as Beijing preaches
vigilance to avoid a resurgence of infections.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2BR03W 
    ** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index
 .MIAPJ0000PUS  was weaker by 0.57% while Japan's Nikkei index
 .N225  was down 0.62%.
    ** The yuan  CNY=CFXS  was quoted at 7.0894 per U.S. dollar,
0.1% weaker than the previous close of 7.0821. 
    ** As of 04:27 GMT, China's A-shares were trading at a
premium of 27.76% over the Hong Kong-listed H-shares.

 (Reporting by Luoyan Liu and Andrew Galbraith;
Editing by Vinay Dwivedi)
 ((luoyan.liu@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging:
luoyan.liu.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))