SHANGHAI: Chinese stocks fell on Thursday, even as information technology shares shot up, as uneven economic recovery after the country’s reopening this year resulted in muted market sentiment.
** China’s blue-chip CSI 300 Index was down 0.6% by the end of the morning session, while the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.7%.
** The Hang Seng Index and the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index both edged up 0.2%.
** Other Asian stocks inched lower, while the dollar was on the back foot as investors remained cautious ahead of an expected 25 basis point hike in interest rates by the US Federal Reserve next month.
** Investor sentiment in China has been subdued after the world’s second-largest economy reported economic data for the first quarter on Tuesday. The gross domestic product figure beat market expectations but some data pointed towards uneven recovery trends.
** Furthermore, China kept its benchmark lending rates unchanged for the eighth straight month on Thursday, as economic recovery reduced the need for any immediate monetary support, bolstering beliefs that the central bank would unlikely ease policy rates in the near term to boost the economy.
** Even amid muted market sentiment, investors continue to bet on Artificial Intelligence (AI) stocks. Frenzy around Chinese equivalents of OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot boosted shares of companies in the tech, media and telecom (TMT) sector.
China stocks end lower as uneven recovery keeps investor sentiment fragile
** Shares of AI, semiconductor, and media companies jumped between 2% and 3.6% on Thursday.
** Analysts say that surging AI stocks have drained money from other sectors such as the new energy and consumer companies, putting pressure on the broader market.
** New energy companies fell 2.6%. ** In Hong Kong, tech giants added 0.3%, but mainland property developers declined 1.5%.
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