China stocks drop on profit-taking; markets await trade clarity

Shenzhou International group

19/12/2019 04:30

* SSEC -0.2%, CSI300 -0.3%, HSI -0.7%
    * China Railway Construction's Shanghai shares rally on unit
listing plan
    * Yuan firms slightly to 7.004 per dollar

    SHANGHAI, Dec 19 (Reuters) - China shares fell on Thursday
as investors locked in profits after a recent rally and awaited
further details on the "phase-one" trade deal between Washington
and Beijing.
 
** At the midday break, the Shanghai Composite index  .SSEC  was
down 0.2% at 3,010.86 points. The index gained 4.84% so far this
month, having rallied after the United States and China signed
an interim trade deal to ease their tariff dispute.
  
** China's blue-chip CSI300 index  .CSI300  was down 0.32%, with
its financial sector sub-index  .CSI300FS  lower by 0.24%, the
consumer staples sector  .CSI000912  dropped 0.94%, the real
estate index  .CSI000952  up 0.47% and the healthcare sub-index
 .CSI300HC  down 0.22%.
 
** Shanghai-listed shares of China Railway Construction Corp Ltd
 601186.SS  were 2.72% higher after the company's board approved
the listing of a unit on Shanghai's STAR Market. The company's
Hong Kong-listed shares  1186.HK  added 0.12%.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nP8N28Q02B
 
** Chinese H-shares listed in Hong Kong  .HSCE  fell 0.78% to
10,938.32, while the Hang Seng Index  .HSI  was down 0.65% at
27,702.70. 
 
** The smaller Shenzhen index  .SZSC  was down 0.12% and the
start-up board ChiNext Composite index  .CNT  was weaker by
0.5%.
 
** Chinese importers bought at least two cargoes of U.S.
soybeans after receiving another round of tariff-free quota for
U.S. shipments on Tuesday, traders in both countries said. The
sales are the first since the announcement of the interim trade
deal.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N28S10N  
 
** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index
 .MIAPJ0000PUS  was weaker by 0.41%, while Japan's Nikkei index
 .N225  was down 0.29%.
 
** The yuan  CNY=CFXS  was quoted at 7.004 per U.S. dollar,
0.02% firmer than the previous close of 7.0055. 
 
** The largest percentage gainers in the main Shanghai Composite
index were EmbedWay Technologies Shanghai Corp  603496.SS , up
10.02%, followed by Shenzhen Hopewind Electric Co Ltd
 603063.SS , gaining 10.01% and Sichuan Minjiang Hydropower Co
Ltd  600131.SS , up by 10.01%.
 
** The largest percentage losses in the Shanghai index were
North China Pharmaceutical Co Ltd  600812.SS , down 8.93%,
followed by Suzhou Secote Precision Electronic Co Ltd
 603283.SS , losing 6.08% and Jiangsu Phoenix Property
Investment Co Ltd  600716.SS , down by 6%.
 
** The top gainers among H-shares were Sinopharm Group Co Ltd
 1099.HK , up 1.1%, followed by CSPC Pharmaceutical Group Ltd
 1093.HK , gaining 0.66% and Shenzhou International Group
Holdings Ltd  2313.HK , up by 0.66%.
 
** The three biggest H-shares percentage decliners were China
Gas Holdings Ltd  0384.HK , which fell 5.75%, China Resources
Land Ltd  1109.HK , down 2.8% and China Taiping Insurance
Holdings Co Ltd  0966.HK , which was down 2.15%.
 
** In Hong Kong, the sub-index of the Hang Seng index tracking
energy shares  .HSCIE  dropped 0.9%, while the IT sector
 .HSCIIT  fell 1.1%. The top gainer in the Hang Seng was Wharf
Real Estate Investment Company Ltd  1997.HK , up 1.02%, while
the biggest loser was AAC Technologies Holdings Inc  2018.HK ,
which was down 3.7%.

 (Reporting by Andrew Galbraith, Editing by Sherry
Jacob-Phillips)
 ((Andrew.Galbraith@tr.com; +86 21 2083 0079; Reuters Messaging:
andrew.galbraith.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net ; Twitter: https://twitter.com/apgalbraith))