Financials weigh down China shares, tech slump hits Hang Seng

SHANGHAI: China's main stock indexes fell on Monday, weighed down by financials, while Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng index slipped on pressure from Chinese tech giants as Beijing continues its regulatory clampdown on monopolistic practices.

** At the midday break, the Shanghai Composite index was down 0.31% at 3,528.16 points.

** China's blue-chip CSI300 index was down 0.19%, with its financial sector sub-index lower 0.97%, the consumer staples sector down 0.36% and the real estate index down 2.21%.

** Chinese H-shares listed in Hong Kong fell 1.66% to 9,984.08, while the Hang Seng Index was down 1.59% at 27,558.42.

China stocks slip

** The Hang Seng Tech index fell 2.07%, weighed down by a 2.67% drop in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and a 2.39% drop in Tencent Holdings Ltd.

** A Shanghai court on the weekend posted a list of "typical unfair competition cases" involving companies including Tencent, Baidu, and Alibaba's Alipay on its official WeChat account.

** Property developer Evergrande sees share plummet 7.14% after an adverse court ruling came to light, freezing deposits of Evergrande and its unit Yixing Hengyu Real Estate Co Ltd

** The smaller Shenzhen index was down 0.17%, the start-up board ChiNext Composite index was higher by 0.41% and Shanghai's tech-focused STAR50 index was down 0.69%?.

** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was weaker by 1.18% while Japan's Nikkei index was down 1.42%.

** The yuan was quoted at 6.479 per US dollar, 0.01% weaker than the previous close of 6.4786.

** So far this year, the Shanghai stock index is up 1.6%? and the CSI300 has fallen 2.4%, while China's H-share index listed in Hong Kong is down 7%. Shanghai stocks have declined 1.76% this month.