China, HK stocks drop as trade angst resurfaces

Want Want China Holdings

20/11/2019 05:10

* SSEC -0.4%, CSI300 -0.5%, HSI -0.6%
    * HK->Shanghai Connect daily quota used 0.1%, Shanghai->HK
daily
quota used 3.1%
    * FTSE China A50 -0.7% 

    SHANGHAI, Nov 20 (Reuters) - China and Hong Kong stocks
slipped on Wednesday, amid renewed worries that the Sino-U.S.
trade talks could hit a snag after Beijing condemned a U.S.
Senate measure backing anti-government protesters in the Asian
financial hub. 
    ** The CSI300 index  .CSI300  was down 0.5% at 3,927.68
points at the end of the morning session, while the Shanghai
Composite Index  .SSEC  lost 0.4% to 2,922.96 points. 
    ** The Hang Seng index  .HSI  dropped 0.6% to 26,924.18
points, while the Hong Kong China Enterprises Index  .HSCE  also
lost 0.6% to 10,632.68 points.  
    ** In a statement, China's foreign ministry said the United
States should stop interfering in Hong Kong and Chinese affairs
and move to stop the latest bills on Hong Kong from becoming
law.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nB9N27M025 
    ** China condemned the U.S. Senate's decision to pass a bill
aimed at protecting human rights in Hong Kong, amid clashes
between pro-democracy protesters and police.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N27Z1VC
    ** In the protests that escalated more than five months ago,
the last band of anti-government protesters trapped inside a
besieged Hong Kong university were weighing a narrowing range of
options early on Wednesday as police outside appeared ready to
simply wait them out.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N2800OG 
    ** Conflicting signals from Washington and Beijing in the
past few days deflated market hopes of a near-term truce to end
their damaging tariff war. U.S. President Donald Trump said the
United States would raise tariffs on Chinese imports if no deal
is reached with Beijing to end a trade war.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N27Z0YP 
    ** "With the prop from recent monetary easing likely to be
underwhelming and headwinds to economic growth mounting, we
think the PBOC will start to cut rates more aggressively in the
coming months," Martin Lynge Rasmussen, China economist at
Capital Economics, said in a research note. 
    ** As widely expected, China cut its new benchmark lending
rate on Wednesday, moving to drive down funding costs and shore
up an economy hurt by slowing demand and trade tariffs.  
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N2800N2 
     ** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index
 .MIAPJ0000PUS  was weaker by 0.70%, while Japan's Nikkei index
 .N225  was down 0.80%.
    ** The yuan  CNY=CFXS  was quoted at 7.0304 per U.S. dollar,
0.05% weaker than the previous close of 7.0272. 
    ** So far this year, the Shanghai stock index is up 17.65%,
while China's H-share index rose 5.6%. Shanghai stocks advanced
0.17% so far this month. 
    ** As of 0424 GMT, China's A-shares were trading at a
premium of 27.56% over the Hong Kong-listed H-shares.  

 (Reporting by Luoyan Liu and John Ruwitch, Editing by Sherry
Jacob-Phillips)
 ((luoyan.liu@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging:
luoyan.liu.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))