SHANGHAI: China shares closed lower on Wednesday, with new-energy vehicle makers leading losses as investors dumped equities with high valuations, while worries over the impact of aggressive sanctions imposed against Russia also weighed on sentiment.
At the close, the Shanghai Composite index was down 0.13% at 3,484.19, while the blue-chip CSI300 index fell 0.89%. Leading losses, the new-energy vehicle sector lost 2.09% and the CSI300 Industry fell 1.17%.
The start-up board ChiNext Composite index slumped 1.77%, dragged lower by battery manufacturing heavyweight CATL, which lost 4.2%. The Hang Seng index fell 1.84% to 22,343.92, the lowest since March 23, 2020. The Hang Seng China Enterprises index fell 1.8% to 7,908.18.
Property shares and financial firms led losses as the financial sector slumped 2.78% and the property sector fell 1.76%. Hong Kong-listed shares of Russian aluminium producer OK Rusal plunged 26% after miner and trader Glencore said it is reviewing all its business activities in Russia, including equity stakes in aluminium.
Oil refiners, however, rose after oil prices surged past $110 per barrel, with the CSI Energy gaining 2.15%. The sub-index of the Hang Seng tracking energy shares rose 2.1%. U.S. President Joe Biden banned Russian flights using American airspace during his State of the Union speech on Tuesday, in which he also said Russian President Vladimir Putin would “pay a continuing high price over the long run” for the invasion of Ukraine.
The United Nations General Assembly is set to reprimand Russia on Wednesday over its invasion of Ukraine and demand that Moscow stop fighting and withdraw its military forces, a move that aims to diplomatically isolate Russia at the world body.
China’s state-owned enterprises must strengthen their management of investments in sectors such as property, finance, overseas mergers and acquisitions, and projects in high-risk nations and areas, the country’s state assets regulator said.
Chinese developers edged up 0.42% on marginal easing policy in a central capital city and expectations of more relaxing measures. The biggest loser on the Hang Seng was Xinyi Glass Holdings Ltd, which fell 10.46%, the biggest daily percentage decline since Dec 20, amid weaker outlook on float glass average sales price given the recent China property market developments.
Around the region, MSCI’s Asia ex-Japan stock index was weaker by 0.81%, while Japan’s Nikkei index closed down 1.68%. The yuan was quoted at 6.3118 per U.S. dollar at 08:10 UTC, 0.01% weaker than the previous close of 6.3113.
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