China stock market:Chinese stocks fell slightly on Thursday and hovered around five-month lows as lingering trade tensions hit the electric vehicle sector, offsetting gains in banking stocks. Hong Kong’s stock market continued to rise as positive sentiment prevailed in regional markets on renewed expectations of a U.S. Federal Reserve rate cut next month.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index and the CSI 300 index of blue-chip companies closed down 0.3%, in line with the broader market. The losses were due to a sell-off in electric vehicle stocks after Brussels unveiled a revised plan on tariffs against Chinese-made electric vehicles, which would make temporary sanctions permanent. That sent the “electric vehicle sector index” down 1.2%.
Also worsening the market’s performance was a drop in the prices of shares associated with the popular Chinese video game “Black Myth: Wukong.” Huayi Brothers, a prominent member that follows industry heavyweights, fell 13 percent after a rally over the past week.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index closed up 1.4%, despite the mainland segment of China remaining in a downtrend, supported by a stellar performance in the technology segment. Xiaomi, one of the top-performing tech companies, rose 9%, its highest level in three months, on positive market sentiment, thanks to second-quarter revenue results that beat analysts’ estimates as a result of its fast-growing automotive business.
Sectoral performance on the CSI 300 index was mixed. The financial sector sub-index rose 0.03 percent, while the consumer staples sector fell 0.87 percent. The real estate index rose 0.19 percent and the healthcare sub-index fell 0.55 percent. The smaller Shenzhen index fell 1.07 percent, and the ChiNext Composite Index of emerging companies fell 0.762 percent.
The MSCI Asia ex-Japan stock index, which was little changed, added 0.34% across all Asian indices, and Japan’s Nikkei index rose 0.68%. The Chinese yuan weakened slightly and was quoted at 7.1366 per US dollar, down 0.09% from the previous close of 7.13.
The Shanghai stock index is down 4.2% for the year and the CSI 300 is down 3.4% year-to-date. However, the Hong Kong-listed H-share index has seen a gain of 7.9%, reflecting a divergence in trends between the mainland and Hong Kong markets.
(With contributions from Reuters.)
Disclaimer:
The information contained in this post is for general information purposes only. We make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the post for any purpose.
We respect the intellectual property rights of content creators. If you are the owner of any material featured on our website and have concerns about its use, please contact us. We are committed to addressing any copyright issues promptly and will remove any material within 2 days of receiving a request from the rightful owner.