SHANGHAI: China stocks fell on Thursday, dragged down by a slump in Chatbot-related companies that had surged amid speculative bets and despite data showing China’s exports posted a surprise surge in March.
China’s blue-chip index CSI 300 closed down 0.7%, while the Hang Seng Index edged up 0.2%.
Chinese outbound shipments rose 14.8% in March, snapping five months of declines, while imports fell a smaller-than-expected 1.4%, customs data showed on Thursday.
However, analysts cautioned the improvement partly reflected suppliers catching up with unfulfilled orders after last year’s COVID-19 disruptions.
“The strong export growth is unlikely to sustain given the weak global macro outlook,” said Zhiwei Zhang, chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management.
Chinese shares in artificial intelligence, communications equipment, and semiconductors slumped between 3.7% and 4.4% each, weighing down China’s benchmark.
Frenzy around OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot had boosted shares of Chinese companies in the tech, media and telecom (TMT) sector, while analysts and authorities had repeatedly warned against bubble risks.
Stocks in healthcare and tourism, meanwhile, jumped 2.3% and 1.7%, respectively.
Travel bookings in China have recovered to pre-pandemic levels after being suppressed last year by zero-COVID policies, and are set to boom for the upcoming May Day holiday, according to data from popular booking apps.
Hong Kong shares recovered earlier losses at close, even as worries including big shareholders of major tech giants selling stakes and geopolitical tensions weighed.
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd plunged as much as 5.2% and finished 2% lower, as SoftBank Group Corp moved to sell almost all of its remaining shares in the e-commerce giant, the Financial Times reported, citing regulatory filings it had analyzed.
Taiwan said on Wednesday it had successfully urged China to drastically narrow its plan to close air space north of the island, averting wider travel disruption in a period of high tension in the region due to China’s military exercises.
Embattled property developer Sunac China, one of many Chinese developers that defaulted last year, plunged 55.5% as the stock resumed trade following a suspension of more than a year.
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