China stocks fall as investors fear trade war escalation

Dynagreen Environmental Protection Co

12/09/2018 05:35

* SSEC -0.3 pct, CSI300 -0.6 pct, HSI -0.4 pct
    * Shanghai Composite touches lowest point since Feb. 2016
    * Hang Seng hits lowest level since July 2017

    SHANGHAI, Sept 12 (Reuters) - China stocks fell on Wednesday
morning, dragging the Shanghai Composite and the blue-chip
CSI300 indexes down to new multi-year lows, as worries over
escalation in the U.S.-China trade war hit investor sentiment,
with China seeking WTO sanctions.
    
** At the midday break, the Shanghai Composite index was down
8.91 points or 0.33 percent at 2,655.89. It fell as low as
2,647.17 in the morning session, its lowest point since Feb. 29,
2016.
 
** China's blue-chip CSI300 index  .CSI300  was down 0.61
percent at midday, having earlier touched its lowest point since
Aug. 8, 2016. 
 
** The CSI300 financial sector sub-index  .CSI300FS  was lower
by 0.4 percent, the consumer staples sector down 1.69 percent,
the real estate index down 0.76 percent and the healthcare
sub-index down 2.26 percent.
 
** Chinese H-shares listed in Hong Kong  .HSCE  fell 0.95
percent to 10,234.64, while the Hang Seng Index  .HSI  was down
0.4 percent at 26,317.89. The Hang Seng earlier touched its
lowest intraday level since July 12, 2017.
 
** China told the World Trade Organization (WTO) on Tuesday it
wanted to impose $7 billion a year in sanctions on the United
States in retaliation for Washington's non-compliance with a
ruling in a dispute over U.S. dumping duties.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N1VX26M
 
** Chinese Vice Premier Hu Chunhua said on Wednesday countries
should "categorically reject" protectionism in trade.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1VY3FR    
 
** The smaller Shenzhen index  .SZSC  was down 0.15 percent and
the start-up board ChiNext Composite index  .CHINEXTP  was
weaker by 0.18 percent.
 
** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index
 .MIAPJ0000PUS  was weaker by 0.34 percent while Japan's Nikkei
index  .N225  was down 0.39 percent.
 
** The yuan  CNY=CFXS  was quoted at 6.8757 per U.S. dollar,
0.06 percent weaker than the previous close of 6.8719. 
 
** The largest percentage gainers in the main Shanghai Composite
index were Will Semiconductor Co Ltd Shanghai  603501.SS , up
10.01 percent, followed by Guizhou Guihang Automotive Components
Co Ltd  600523.SS , gaining 10 percent and Zhejiang Rongsheng
Environmental Protection Paper Joint Stock Co Ltd  603165.SS ,
up by 10 percent.
 
** The largest percentage losses in the Shanghai index were
Harbin Gong Da High-Tech Enterprise Development Co Ltd
 600701.SS , down 4.92 percent, followed by Dynagreen
Environmental Protection Group Co Ltd  601330.SS , losing 4.71
percent and Yifeng Pharmacy Chain Co Ltd  603939.SS , down by
4.46 percent.
 
** So far this year, the Shanghai stock index is down 19.42
percent, while China's H-share index is down 11.8 percent.
Shanghai stocks have declined 2.22 percent this month. 
 
** The top gainers among H-shares were Great Wall Motor Co Ltd
 2333.HK , up 5.17 percent, followed by China Resources Land Ltd
 1109.HK , gaining 1.6 percent and CNOOC Ltd  0883.HK , up by 1
percent.
 
** The three biggest H-shares percentage decliners were CSPC
Pharmaceutical Group Ltd  1093.HK , which has fallen 6.92
percent, China Pacific Insurance Group Co Ltd  2601.HK , down
2.4 percent and Huaneng Power International Inc  0902.HK , which
was 2.2 percent lower.
 
** About 5.11 billion shares have traded so far on the Shanghai
exchange, roughly 43.2 percent of the market's 30-day moving
average of 11.83 billion shares a day. The volume traded was
9.99 billion as of the last full trading day.
 
** As of 04:16 GMT, China's A-shares were trading at a premium
of 21.06 percent over the Hong Kong-listed H-shares.
 
** The Shanghai stock index is below its 50-day moving average
and below its 200-day moving average.
 
** The price-to-earnings ratio of the Shanghai index was 11.21
as of the last full trading day, while the dividend yield was
2.8 percent.
 
** So far this week, the market capitalisation of the Shanghai
stock index has fallen by 1.34 percent to 28.39 trillion yuan.
 
** In Hong Kong, the sub-index of the Hang Seng index tracking
energy shares  .HSCIE  dipped 0.1 percent while the IT sector
 .HSCIIT  rose 0.2 percent. The top gainer on Hang Seng was MTR
Corp Ltd  0066.HK , up 2.77 percent, while the biggest loser was
Sino Biopharmaceutical Ltd  1177.HK , which was down 10.16
percent.

    <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
China stock market graphics suite     http://reut.rs/1NfkoGl
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
 (Reporting by Andrew Galbraith; Editing by Sunil Nair)
 ((Andrew.Galbraith@tr.com; +86 21 6104 1779; Reuters Messaging:
andrew.galbraith.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net ; Twitter: https://twitter.com/apgalbraith))