China stocks fall as Beijing COVID concerns weigh

Orient Overseas (International)

23/05/2022 06:23

SHANGHAI, May 23 (Reuters) - China stocks fell on Monday as
Beijing reported the most number of cases seen during the
current COVID-19 outbreak, while profit-taking after two
straight weeks of gains also weighed on benchmarks.
    
    ** The CSI300 index  .CSI300  fell 1.1% to 4,034.00 at the
end of the morning session, while the Shanghai Composite Index
 .SSEC  lost 0.5% to 3,131.85.
    ** The Hang Seng index  .HSI  dropped 1.9% to 20,317.16. The
Hong Kong China Enterprises Index  .HSCE  lost 2.2% to 6,966.35.
    ** "There is some resistance after the Shanghai Composite
benchmark rebounded more than 200 points from a recent trough,"
said Zhang Yanbing, an analyst with Zheshang Securities.
    ** Meanwhile, the Chinese capital reported 99 new infections
for Sunday, the largest daily tally so far during a month-old
outbreak that has steadily seen dozen of new cases a day.
    ** Real estate developers  .CSI000952  slumped 3% to lead
the decline, tourism firms  .CSI930633  and liquor makers
 .CSI399997  went down roughly 2% each, while new energy
 .CSI399808  shed 1.5%.
    ** "There are still some challenges in the market, and more
positive fundamental catalysts are needed for further gains,"
CICC said in a note.
    ** Investors should closely monitor fundamentals as China's
COVID situation improves, including the real estate sector and
consumer demand, CICC said. 
    ** Chinese regulators said on Friday they will streamline
the process of equity and bond issuance by companies hit by the
pandemic, and urged brokerages and fund managers to channel more
money into virus-hit areas and sectors.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2XC13H
    ** Broader Asian stocks also came under pressure as
persistent worries about inflation and rising interest rates
dogged the global economic outlook.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2XF029
    ** Tech giants listed in Hong Kong  .HSTECH  lost more than
3%, with e-commerce giant Alibaba  9988.HK  down 4.6% to become
the biggest drag of the Hang Seng Index.
    ** Shares of Orient Overseas  0316.HK  and China Hongqiao
Group  1378.HK  jumped more than 6% each as they will be added
to the Hang Seng benchmark.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2XF03A

 (Reporting by Shanghai Newsroom; editing by Uttaresh.V)
 ((Jason.Xue@thomsonreuters.com))