Vaccine scandal weighs on China shares; HK stocks climb

Want Want China Holdings

17/08/2018 05:01

* SSEC -0.4 pct, CSI300 -0.6 pct, HSI +0.5 pct
    * CSI healthcare sub-index down 3.6 pct
    * Trade war fears ease on news of fresh China-U.S. talks

    SHANGHAI, Aug 17(Reuters) - Shares in China fell on Friday,
pulled down by healthcare companies after a vaccine maker warned
it could be delisted due to an ongoing vaccine scandal, but
planned talks between the United States and China helped ease
trade war fears.
    
** China sacked a senior provincial official and is probing a
former top drug regulator after a safety scandal at vaccine
maker Changsheng Biotechnology Co Ltd, which again warned it
could be delisted over the scandal.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1V746T
    
** China and the United States said their governments will hold
lower-level trade talks this month, raising hope of an easing of
tensions in an escalating trade war.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1V71F9
    
** At the midday break, the Shanghai Composite index  SSEC  was
down 10.67 points or 0.39 percent at 2,694.52. 
  
** China's blue-chip CSI300 index  .CSI300  was down 0.55
percent, weighed down by healthcare sub-index  .CSI300HC , which
is 3.58 percent lower.
    
** Changsheng Biotechnology shares  002680.SZ  dropped 5
percent. 
        
** The financial sector sub-index  .CSI300FS  is higher by 0.18
percent, the consumer staples sector is down 0.28 percent and
the real estate index is up 0.03 percent.
** Around 0334 GMT, Chinese H-shares listed in Hong Kong  .HSCE 
rose 0.35 percent at 10,516.87, while the Hang Seng Index  .HSI 
was up 0.48 percent at 27,230.56. 
    
** The smaller Shenzhen index  .SZSC  was down 0.74 percent and
the start-up board ChiNext Composite index  .CHINEXTP  was
weaker by 1.37 percent.
    
** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index
 .MIAPJ0000PUS  was firmer by 0.39 percent, while Japan's Nikkei
index  .N225  climbed 0.42 percent.
    
** The yuan  CNY=CFXS  was quoted at 6.8864 per U.S. dollar,
0.05 percent firmer than the previous close of 6.89. 
    
** The largest percentage gainers in the main Shanghai Composite
index were Red Avenue New Materials Group Co Ltd  603650.SS  up
10.02 percent, followed by Jiangsu Nanfang Medical Co Ltd
 603880.SS  gaining 9.99 percent and Zhe Jiang Dong Ri Ltd Co
 600113.SS  up by 7.08 percent.
    
** The largest percentage losses in the Shanghai index were
MeiDu Energy Corp  600175.SS  down 10.1 percent, followed by
Hylink Digital Solution Co Ltd  603825.SS  losing 10.01 percent
and Shangying Global Co Ltd  600146.SS  down by 10 percent.
    
** So far this year, the Shanghai stock index is down -18.2
percent, while China's H-share index lost 10.5 percent. Shanghai
stocks fell 5.95 percent this month. 
    
** The top gainers among H-shares were China Vanke Co Ltd
 2202.HK  up 4.22 percent, followed by Tencent Holdings Ltd
 0700.HK  gaining 3.07 percent and Guangdong Investment Ltd
 0270.HK  up by 2.64 percent.
    
** The three biggest H-shares percentage decliners were CSPC
Pharmaceutical Group Ltd  1093.HK , which fell 6.05 percent,
CRRC Corp Ltd  1766.HK , which lost 4.6 percent and China Gas
Holdings Ltd  0384.HK , which slipped 3.3 percent.
    
** About 5.61 billion shares have traded so far on the Shanghai
exchange, roughly 40.6 percent of the market's 30-day moving
average of 13.81 billion shares a day. The volume traded was
12.03 billion as of the last full trading day.
    
** As of 0334 GMT, China's A-shares were trading at a
premium of 17.02 percent over the Hong Kong-listed H-shares.
    
** The Shanghai stock index is below its 50-day moving average
and below its 200-day moving average.
    
** The price-to-earnings ratio of the Shanghai index was 11.78
as of the last full trading day, while the dividend yield was
2.8 percent.
    
** So far this week, the market capitalisation of the Shanghai
stock index has fallen by 3.20 percent to 28.73 trillion yuan.
    
** In Hong Kong, the sub-index of the Hang Seng index tracking
energy shares  .HSCIE  was flat, while the IT sector  .HSCIIT 
rose 2.2 percent. The top gainer on Hang Seng was Want Want
China Holdings Ltd  0151.HK  up 4.42 percent, while the biggest
loser was CSPC Pharmaceutical Group Ltd  1093.HK  which was down
6.05 percent.
    

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China stock market graphics suite     http://reut.rs/1NfkoGl
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 (Reporting by Andrew Galbraith, Editing by Sherry
Jacob-Phillips)
 ((Andrew.Galbraith@tr.com; +86 21 6104 1779; Reuters Messaging:
andrew.galbraith.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net ; Twitter: https://twitter.com/apgalbraith))