Hong Kong stocks extend falls on Beijing's security law push

Techtronic Industries Co

25/05/2020 05:35

* SSEC 0.0%, CSI300 -0.1%, HSI -1.0%
    * HK->Shanghai Connect daily quota used 1.4%, Shanghai->HK
daily
quota used 3.5%
    * FTSE China A50 +0.0%

    SHANGHAI, May 25(Reuters) - Hong Kong stocks dropped on
Monday, extending losses from the previous session on Beijing's
plan to impose new national security legislation on the Asian
financial hub and souring Sino-U.S. relations.
    ** At the midday break, the Shanghai Composite index  .SSEC 
was down 0.03% at 2,812.96. 
    ** China's blue-chip CSI300 index  .CSI300  was down 0.12%,
with its financial sector sub-index  .CSI300FS  lower by 0.27%,
the consumer staples sector  .CSI000912  up 1.94%, the real
estate index  .CSI000952  higher 1.49% and the healthcare
sub-index  .CSI300HC  up 0.9%.
    ** Chinese H-shares listed in Hong Kong  .HSCE  fell 0.46%
to 9,383.83, while the Hang Seng Index  .HSI  was down 1% at
22,701.32. 
    ** The smaller Shenzhen index  .SZSC  was down 0.32% and the
start-up board ChiNext Composite index  .CNT  was weaker by
0.18%.
    ** Hong Kong stocks fell more than 5% on Friday as China
moved to impose national security laws on the city, raising
fears of a revival of the civil unrest that convulsed the
financial hub for much of last year.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nAZN18OW00 
    ** Hong Kong's security chief said "terrorism" was growing
in the city, as government departments rallied on Monday behind
Beijing's plans to introduce national security laws and after
thousands took to the streets to protest against the
move. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2D70AW   
    ** Adding further pressure were rising Sino-U.S. tensions.
The United States should stop wasting time in its fight against
the coronavirus and work with China to combat it, rather than
spreading lies and attacking the country, the Chinese
government's top diplomat Wang Yi said on Sunday.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2D604O 
    ** Sino-U.S. ties have nosedived since the outbreak of the
new coronavirus, with the administrations of President Donald
Trump and President Xi Jinping repeatedly trading barbs over
issues related to the pandemic, especially U.S. accusations of
cover-ups and lack of transparency.  
    ** The United States said on Friday it would add 33 Chinese
firms and institutions to an economic blacklist for helping
Beijing spy on its minority Uighur population or because of ties
to weapons of mass destruction and China's military.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2D41U3 
    ** Significant fluctuations in the market could become
normalcy given the current risk events, as investors turned
cautious at the moment, Guodu International analysts noted in a
report. 
    ** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index
 .MIAPJ0000PUS  was firmer by 0.04%, while Japan's Nikkei index
 .N225  was up 1.42%.
    ** The yuan  CNY=CFXS  was quoted at 7.1383 per U.S. dollar,
0.1% weaker than the previous close of 7.131.

 (Reporting by Luoyan Liu and Andrew Galbraith; Editing by
Subhranshu Sahu)
 ((luoyan.liu@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging:
luoyan.liu.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))