Shanghai shares flat as market waits for trade, policy cues

Want Want China Holdings

25/10/2019 05:34

* SSEC unchanged, CSI300 +0.1%, HSI -0.4%, HSCE -0.6%
    * China's leaders convene next week for key policy meeting
    * U.S. VP Pence slams Beijing influence before new trade
talks

    HONG KONG, Oct 25(Reuters) - Stocks in Shanghai were flat on
Friday ahead of fresh U.S.-China trade negotiations and a key
leadership meeting in Beijing, wrapping up a week of trading
within a tight range.
        
** At the midday break, the Shanghai Composite index  .SSEC  was
pretty much unchanged at 2,940.61 points. The blue-chip CSI300
index  .CSI300  was up almost 0.1%.
** CSI300's financial sector sub-index  .CSI300FS  fell 0.4%,
the consumer staples sector  .CSI000912  rose 1.4%, the real
estate index  .CSI000952  was up 0.2% and the healthcare
sub-index  .CSI300HC  gained 1.2%.
** Chinese H-shares listed in Hong Kong  .HSCE  fell 0.6%, while
the Hang Seng index  .HSI  was down 0.4% at 26,678.92.
** The smaller Shenzhen index  .SZSC  rose 0.3% and the start-up
board ChiNext Composite index  .CNT  was higher by 0.5%.
** China's ruling Communist Party will hold a key meeting of its
senior leadership next week after an unusually long delay since
the last one, state media said on Thursday, as the country
grapples with issues ranging from a slowing economy to unrest in
Hong Kong.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N2791N3
** U.S. Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday accused China of
curtailing "rights and liberties" in Hong Kong and blasted U.S.
company Nike and the National Basketball Association for falling
in line with Beijing in a disagreement over free speech.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N27901G
** A fresh round of talks between Treasury Secretary Steven
Mnuchin and Chinese officials to try to end the bruising trade
dispute is set for Friday. The S&P 500 U.S. stock index briefly
moved lower after Pence's comments.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N27901G
** Morgan Stanley's indicators showed sentiment dampened this
week in the A-share market. 
** This was "driven mainly by the ongoing uncertainty associated
with the (third quarter) earnings season, and importantly,
market chatter around the relaxation of rules currently limiting
major shareholder stake reductions," the bank's analysts said in
a note on Friday.
** The Shanghai index was up, week-on-week, less than 0.1% as of
midday.
** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index
 .MIAPJ0000PUS  and Japan's Nikkei index  .N225  were flat.
** The biggest percentage losers in the Shanghai index were
Shanghai Baosight Software Co Ltd  600845.SS , down 9.8%,
followed by Zhejiang CFMoto Power Co Ltd  603129.SS , losing
9.7% and Shanghai AtHub Co Ltd  603881.SS , down 8.7%.
** The Shanghai stock index is above its 50-day moving average
and above its 200-day moving average.
** In Hong Kong, the sub-index of the Hang Seng index tracking
energy shares  .HSCIE  rose 0.8% while the IT sector  .HSCIIT 
gained 0.4%.

 (Reporting by Noah Sin; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)
 ((noah.sin@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging:
noah.sin.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))