China shares end lower as key lending rate kept steady for 5th month

SHANGHAI: China stocks ended lower on Monday, dragged by consumer staples and financial stocks after the central bank left its benchmark lending rate unchanged, with investors taking profits after expectations of further stimulus lifted shares in the previous session.

At the close, the Shanghai Composite index was down 0.63pc at 3,316.94.

The blue-chip CSI300 index shed 0.96pc, with its financial sector sub-index falling 0.95pc and the consumer staples sector down 1.61pc. Both sub-indexes had posted strong gains on Friday.

China kept its benchmark lending rate for corporate and household loans, the loan prime rate (LPR), steady for a fifth straight month, as expected.

The monthly fixing came after the People's Bank of China kept medium-term borrowing costs unchanged, and after President Xi Jinping said China's economy remains resilient.

Analysts at ING said they did not expect China to change its monetary stance unless the country faced a resurgence of COVID-19 cases, an escalation in the Sino-US technology war or increasing damage from the trade war.

China's ByteDance said on Monday that TikTok's global business will become its subsidiary, despite Oracle Corp and Walmart Inc saying they and US investors would own the majority of the app.

US President Donald Trump in August signed an executive order giving the company 90 days to sell its video app.

Securities firms outperformed, with the CSI SWS Securities Index trimming just 0.19pc after Guolian Securities Co said it would acquire Sinolink Securities Co, a move that accelerates the consolidation of Chinese brokerages.

The smaller Shenzhen index ended down 0.44pc and the start-up board ChiNext Composite index was weaker by 1.035pc.

At 07:01 GMT, the yuan was quoted at 6.7606 per US dollar, 0.14pc firmer than the previous close of 6.77.