SHANGHAI: Chinese shares fell on Wednesday as weakness in technology stocks continued to drag on the overall market, with China's market regulator levying new fines against leading technology names.
** At the midday break, the Shanghai Composite index was down 0.81% at 3,602.74 points.
** China's blue-chip CSI300 index was down 0.67%, with info tech firms down 2.7%, the semiconductor sector down 3.94% and industrial firms down 2.39%.
** Weakness in technology firms mirrored global markets, but in a fresh reminder of regulatory overhang in China, the country's top market regulator on Wednesday announced fines against Alibaba, Tencent Holdings Ltd, and Bilibili Inc for failing to properly report about a dozen deals.
China stocks slip on first trading session in 2022 as tech shares weigh
** Real estate shares continued the previous day's rebound, with a sub-index tracking the sector up 3.44%.
** Worries over developer China Evergrande Group's near-term debt obligations saw some relief as the company announced a bondholder meeting to discuss delaying repayment.
** Evergrande shares were down 0.62% at midday.
** Chinese H-shares listed in Hong Kong fell 1.32% to 8,072.54, while the Hang Seng index was down 0.85% at 23,092.83.
** The Hang Seng Tech index succumbed to global weakness affecting the sector, falling 3.54%, as heavyweight Meituan dropped 9.43%.
** China Mobile Ltd shares gained 3.8% by midday in their Shanghai debut on Wednesday after the company raised 48.7 billion yuan ($7.64 billion) in China's biggest public share offering in a decade. Its Hong Kong shares rose 5.52%.
The smaller Shenzhen index was down 1.67%, the start-up board ChiNext Composite index was weaker by 2.77% and Shanghai's tech-focused STAR50 index was down 2.02%.
** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was weaker by 0.86%, while Japan's Nikkei index was up 0.04%.
** The yuan was quoted at 6.3723 per US dollar, unchanged from the previous close.
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