HONG KONG: China and Hong Kong stocks were flat on Tuesday, as investors awaited more clarity on the trade situation after the Trump administration stepped up probes into semiconductor imports.
China stocks end mixed as factory slump persists
-
China’s blue-chip CSI300 Index and the Shanghai Composite Index both declined less than 0.1% by midday trading break.
-
Hong Kong benchmark Hang Seng added less than 0.2% after swinging between gains and losses during the morning session.
-
The US Donald Trump administration has escalated probes into semiconductor imports on national security grounds after exempting some Chinese tech products from steep tariffs.
-
The ongoing trade uncertainty weighed on chip stocks for both onshore and offshore markets. The CSI Semiconductor Industry Index slid 1.7% and the electronics subindex lost 1.5%, both giving up most of the gains made on Monday.
-
The Hang Seng Tech Index lost 0.9% in Hong Kong, with electric vehicle (EV) maker Xpeng declining 3.5% and chip maker SMIC weakening 3.2%.
-
“The US–China tariff situation is highly fluid, with changes occurring almost by the hour,” Yan Wang, chief emerging markets and China strategist at Alpine Macro, said in a note.
-
There is still heightened uncertainty in the near term, so aggressive risk-taking in Chinese stocks is not warranted, he added.
-
On the other hand, the CSI Banks Index added 1.4% and consumer staple index gained 0.4%, helping offset losses in the mainland market.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.