China stocks dragged down by cyclical shares; HK shares up

SHANGHAI: China stocks closed down on Tuesday, dragged lower by cyclical shares such as metals, while technology companies boosted Hong Kong shares.

Non-ferrous metals companies led the declines in China, slumping 4.5%, while coal-related stocks dropped 2.4%.

Tech shares led gains in Hong Kong, with delivery giant Meituan and e-commerce giant JD.com up 8.0% and 6.1%, respectively.

UBS strategists upgraded MSCI China equities to “overweight” as the index has a higher weight in consumption, where they see early signs of improvement, and has been little affected by the weak property sector.

At the close, the Shanghai Composite index was down 0.74% at 3,021.98.

The blue-chip CSI300 index was down 0.7%, with its financial sector sub-index lower by 0.09%, the consumer staples sector up 0.96%, the real estate index down 1.07% and the healthcare sub-index up 1.23%.

The smaller Shenzhen index ended down 0.19% and the start-up board ChiNext Composite index was higher by 0.154%.

HK shares jump on policy support; China slips

Around the region, MSCI’s Asia ex-Japan stock index was firmer by 0.84%, while Japan’s Nikkei index closed up 0.3%.

At 0831 GMT, the yuan was quoted at 7.2468 per U.S. dollar, 0.04% weaker than the previous close of 7.244.

At the close of trade, the Hang Seng index was up 317.24 points or 1.92% at 16,828.93. The Hang Seng China Enterprises index rose 2.12% to 5,954.62.

The sub-index of the Hang Seng tracking energy shares rose 0.3%, while the IT sector rose 3.81%, the financial sector ended 1.4% higher and the property sector rose 1.89%.