China stocks drop on heightened trade tensions, automakers’ price war

HONG KONG: China and Hong Kong stocks resumed their downtrend on Thursday after a rebound in the previous session, weighed down by subdued sentiment as investors feared an escalation of the trade war with the US and a further ban on chip sales to China.

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• At the midday break, the blue-chip CSI300 index was down 0.79%, and the Shanghai Composite index slid 0.3% at 3,299.87 points.

• In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index fell 1.32% at 19,344.07, while the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index dropped 1.51% to 6,921.28.

• Investors are largely in a wait-and-see mode as they look for clarity on US President-elect Donald Trump’s trade policies and potential consequences.

• In response to Trump’s pledge to slap additional tariffs on Chinese goods, China’s state media warned the move could drag the world’s top two economies into a mutually destructive tariff war.

• “A key risk for China’s economy and markets in 2025 comes from Trump’s policies-the proposed tariffs of 60% could reduce GDP growth by up to 2% over the next four to six quarters,” Michelle Qi, head of China equities at Eastspring Investments, said in a note.

• The Biden administration could announce additional curbs on sales of semiconductor equipment and artificial intelligence (AI) memory chips to China as soon as next week, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, adding to the dampened sentiment.

• Auto shares led the decline after media reports said that BYD and other automakers pushed suppliers to cut prices, signalling that a brutal price war in the world’s largest auto market is set to escalate.

• That also weighed on the broader consumption sector.

• At lunch break, BYD’s Hong Kong and mainland shares fell 2.9% and 2.6%, respectively, while SAIC Motor Corp was down more than 5%.

• Around the region, MSCI’s Asia ex-Japan stock index was weaker by 0.26%, while Japan’s Nikkei index was up 0.78%.

• Chinese ADRs rose 2.82% overnight.

• The yuan was quoted at 7.2478 per US dollar, 0.01% weaker than the previous close of 7.247.