China stocks extend fall amid global growth worries

Hengan International

26/03/2019 04:51

* SSEC -1.0 pct, CSI300 -0.6 pct, +HSI 0.1 pct
    * Waning global risk appetite seen driving outflows -
analysts
    * Chinese premier reaffirms pledge to open up to foreign
investment

    SHANGHAI, March 26 (Reuters) - Chinese shares fell on
Tuesday, extending the previous day's sharp losses, as investor
sentiment remained fragile amid fears of a U.S. recession while
concerns over a protracted U.S.-China trade war also weighed.
    
** At the midday break, the Shanghai Composite index  .SSEC 
lost 0.99 percent to 3,012.90 points. 
 
** China's blue-chip CSI300 index  .CSI300  was down 0.59
percent, with its financial sector sub-index  .CSI300FS  easing
0.52 percent and the healthcare sub-index  .CSI300HC  losing
0.97 percent. But the consumer staples sector  .CSI000912  rose
1.22 percent and the real estate index  .CSI000952  gained 0.31
percent after a sharp fall on Monday.
 
** The U.S. Federal Reserve should consider raising the
proportion of short-term Treasury bonds it holds to give itself
more options to respond to economic pullbacks, as an inverted
U.S. yield curve sparked concerns of a recession in the world's
largest economy.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N21D015  
 
** The U.S.-China trade war poses the biggest risk to global
stability and fiscal stabilisation is needed to respond to
economic shocks in Europe, IMF First Deputy Managing Director
David Lipton said on Monday.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N21C3G8
 
** Analysts at China Fortune Securities said foreign investors'
eroding sentiment is likely to continue to drag on mainland
markets.  
 
** "In the near term, the risks of further market drops have not
been fully released, and the index still has potential for
further drops," the analysts said in a note. "Recent sustained
net outflows of foreign capital also show that offshore
investors' risk appetite has fallen ahead of onshore investors,"
they said.
 
** Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Monday reaffirmed Beijing's
pledge to further open up to foreign investment as he met with
global business executives, and sought to assure them that the
rights of foreign firms would be protected.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N21D0LX
 
** Chinese H-shares listed in Hong Kong  .HSCE  were steady at
11,231.73, while the Hang Seng Index  .HSI  was up 0.14 percent
at 28,564.30. 
 
** The smaller Shenzhen index  .SZSC  was down 1.03 percent and
the start-up board ChiNext Composite index  .CNT  lost 0.93
percent.
 
** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index
 .MIAPJ0000PUS  firmed 0.22 percent while Japan's Nikkei index
 .N225  gained 2.13 percent.
 
** The yuan  CNY=CFXS  was quoted at 6.7091 per U.S. dollar,
nearly unchanged from the previous close of 6.709. 
 
** The largest percentage gainers on the main Shanghai Composite
index were DuoLun Technology Corporation Ltd  603528.SS , up
10.06 percent, followed by Zhengping Road & Bridge Construction
Co Ltd  603843.SS , gaining 10.02 percent, and Chongqing Gangjiu
Co Ltd  600279.SS , rising 10 percent.
 
** The largest percentage losers on the Shanghai index were
Beijing Airport High-Tech Park Co Ltd  600463.SS , down 10.03
percent, followed by Beijing Teamsun Technology Co Ltd
 600410.SS , losing 10.03 percent and Chongqing Three Gorges
Water Conservancy and Electric Power Co Ltd  600116.SS ,
declining 9.79 percent.
 
** So far this year, the Shanghai stock index is up 22.02
percent, while China's H-share index is up 10.9 percent.
Shanghai stocks have risen 3.47 percent this month. The sharp
rally in Chinese stocks this year has been driven more by
investor optimism than fundamentals.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N2175NS
 
** The top gainers among H-shares were Shenzhou International
Group Holdings Ltd  2313.HK , up 3.67 percent, followed by China
Telecom Corp Ltd  0728.HK , gaining 2.29 percent and Hengan
International Group Company Ltd  1044.HK , adding 1.95 percent.
 
** The three biggest H-shares percentage decliners were
SINOPHARM GROUP CO LTD  1099.HK , which fell 3.16 percent, GF
Securities Co Ltd  1776.HK , down 1.6 percent and Haitong
Securities Co Ltd  6837.HK , 1.5 percent lower.
 
** In Hong Kong, the sub-index of the Hang Seng index tracking
energy shares  .HSCIE  rose 0.6 percent while the IT sector
 .HSCIIT  fell 0.4 percent. The top gainer on the Hang Seng was
Shenzhou International Group Holdings Ltd  2313.HK , up 3.67
percent, while the biggest loser was China Shenhua Energy Co Ltd
 1088.HK , which was down 1.42 percent.

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 (Reporting by Andrew Galbraith; Editing by Shreejay Sinha)
 ((Andrew.Galbraith@tr.com; +86 21 6104 1779; Reuters Messaging:
andrew.galbraith.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net ; Twitter: https://twitter.com/apgalbraith))