China stocks fall as consumer, liquor firms retreat

SHANGHAI: China shares fell on Friday, on track to snap four consecutive weekly gains, as consumer and liquor stocks retreated on worries over lofty valuations, while Sino-US tensions also weighed on market sentiment.

** The CSI300 index fell 1% to 5,418.13 by the end of the morning session, while the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.5% to 3,546.96.

** For the week, CSI300 lost 1.4% and SSEC slipped 0.6%.

** Leading the fall on Friday, the CSI300 consumer staples index slumped 3.7% and the CSI liquor index dropped 5.6%.

** China Fortune Securities said in a report that market participants would need time and earnings from some leading firms to digest their lofty valuations, noting that the overall price-to-earnings ratio of liquor makers had doubled to 66 from the end of 2010.

** The Trump administration in its waning days took another swipe at China and its biggest firms on Thursday, imposing sanctions on officials and companies for alleged misdeeds in the South China Sea and imposing an investment ban on nine more firms.

** Bucking the broad weakness, China's banking shares staged a strong rally on Friday, as more banks forecast upbeat earnings for 2020 despite the coronavirus outbreak.

** Net profits of China's listed banks are expected to grow by 43.8% y/y in the fourth quarter of 2020, helping net profit for the full year return to positive growth, investment bank CICC said in a report, adding a substantial earnings improvement would be a catalyst for a rally in banking shares.

** In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index was unchanged at 28,496.98, while the Hong Kong China Enterprises Index lost 0.1% to 11,287.27.

** Shares of Xiaomi Corp fell as much as 11.2% after the smartphone maker was included in Trump's Chinese military blacklist.