China stocks slip as Beijing stands pat on benchmark rates

Shenzhou International group

20/06/2024 05:57

SHANGHAI, June 20 (Reuters) - China and Hong Kong stocks
edged lower on Thursday, dragged down by lacklustre performances
in property shares, as Beijing left its key benchmark lending
rates unchanged despite recent data showing the economy remains
wobbly.     
    
** China's blue-chip CSI300 Index  .CSI300  was down 0.5% by
lunch break, while the Shanghai Composite Index  .SSEC  lost
0.3% to a two-month low. Hong Kong benchmark Hang Seng  .HSI 
was down 0.5%.     
    
** China left the one-year and five-year loan prime rates (LPR)
unchanged at a monthly fixing on Thursday, underscoring that
Beijing's monetary easing efforts continued to be limited by
narrowing interest rate margins and a weakening currency.

** The 5-year LPR influences the pricing of mortgages. 

** China's onshore property shares  .CSI000952  dropped 2.3%. 

** Chinese automakers have urged Beijing to hike tariffs on
imported European gasoline-powered cars in retaliation for
Brussels' curbs on exports of Chinese-made EVs, the state-backed
Global Times newspaper said on Wednesday.  
** China's blue-chip CSI300 index  .CSI300  slipped 0.5%, with
its financial sector sub-index  .CSI300FS  trading lower by
0.4%, the consumer staples sector  .CSI000912  down 0.3%, the
real estate index  .CSI000952  slumped 2.3% and the healthcare
sub-index  .CSI300HC  was down 1.1%.
 
** Chinese H-shares listed in Hong Kong  .HSCE  fell 0.5% to
6,557.19, while the Hang Seng Index  .HSI  was also down 0.5% at
 18,341.45. 
 
** The smaller Shenzhen index  .SZSC  was down 1.3%, the
start-up board ChiNext Composite index  .CNT  dropped nearly 1%,
while Shanghai's tech-focused STAR50 index  .STAR50  was up
1.4%​.
 
** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index
 .MIAPJ0000PUS  was weaker by 0.21% while Japan's Nikkei index
 .N225  was down 0.34%.
 
** The yuan  CNY=CFXS  was quoted at 7.2601 per U.S. dollar,
0.04% weaker than the previous close of 7.2572. 
 
** Technology-related shares in Hong Kong  .HSTECH  were down
1.4%.

 (Reporting by Shanghai Newsroom; Editing by Sherry
Jacob-Phillips)
 ((li.gu@tr.com))