China stocks mixed as investors await PMI data

SHANGHAI: Chinese blue-chips slipped on Monday while Shanghai stocks rose slightly as market participants waited for purchasing manager surveys for manufacturing and services to see if a trend of slowing growth will continue.

** The CSI300 index fell 0.2% to 4,817.28 by the end of the morning session, while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.3% to 3,534.22.

** The Hang Seng index climbed 0.4% to 25,495.91. The Hong Kong China Enterprises Index gained 0.1% to 8,970.48.

China stocks rise as investors bet on further stimulus

** US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell signalled the central bank will remain patient as it tries to nurse the economy back to full employment and gave no new clues on the start of bond-buying taper. He made the comments virtually at the Fed's annual Jackson Hole, Wyoming, economic symposium.

** Investors are eyeing PMI data this week to see whether policymakers would step up support.

** A sub-index tracking new energy companies soared 4.7%, after China's top lithium producer Tianqi Lithium Corp posted its first net profit in two years as prices for the commodity used in electric-vehicle (EV) batteries rebounded strongly from a protracted slide.

** The defence sub-index rose 3.7%. A US warship and a US Coast Guard cutter sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Friday, and China on Saturday called the move "provocative."

** Shares of China's state-backed data centre service providers surged, as the Chinese city of Tianjin asked municipally controlled companies to migrate their data from private-sector operators to a state-backed cloud system by next year.

** The real estate sub-index dropped 4%, after industry giant China Vanke Co Ltd posted weak earnings results amid a tightening property sector.

** In Hong Kong, the energy sub-index gained 2.8% after China's Sinopec Corp unveiled plans to spend 30 billion yuan ($4.6 billion) on hydrogen energy by 2025.

** The materials sub-index and the healthcare sub-index climbed 4.2% and 2.4%, respectively.