China, HK stocks flat

SHANGHAI: China and Hong Kong stocks barely moved on Monday after Beijing pledged to stabilise capital markets without announcing fresh stimulus to counter the hefty US tariffs.

Buoyed by state-backed buying, the Chinese market has bounced roughly 8% since early April, when US President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal tariffs” slammed global shares.

But the rebound is losing steam in the absence of additional policy support from Beijing, or visibility on whether China and the US will begin trade talks, let alone reach a deal.

China’s blue-chip CSI300 Index dipped 0.1%, while the Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.2%.

Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng Index was roughly flat.

On Friday, China’s top policymakers pledged to support firms and workers most affected by the impact of triple-digit US tariffs and urged the country to prepare for the worst-case scenarios. The ruling Communist Party’s Politburo vowed to stabilise and invigorate capital markets, but no additional support measures were announced.

Beijing’s efforts have put a floor under Chinese shares, but extending the headroom requires either massive capital inflows, or “really good news to rebuild confidence” sapped by the Sino-US trade war, said Zheshang Securities strategist Wang Daqi.

Meanwhile, on Sunday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent did not back President Donald Trump’s assertion that tariff talks with China were underway and said he did not know if the Trump had spoken to Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Beijing called on Washington to remove the tariffs to create space for talks, while also granting some exemptions on US imports from the 125% counter-tariffs.

Artificial intelligence shares listed on Shanghai’s STAR Market as well as chip-making stocks rose after Xi Jinping urged efforts to promote the development of AI and chip-making technologies.

Property shares tumbled on dashed hopes for fresh, imminent monetary easing.