SHANGHAI: China stocks fell on Wednesday, tracking losses on Wall Street where tech firms were hit hard on concerns over tighter government scrutiny on the industry.
At the close, the Shanghai Composite index was down 1.4 percent at 3,122.29, while the blue-chip CSI300 index close down 1.8 percent at 3,842.72.
The smaller Shenzhen index ended down 0.95 percent and the start-up board ChiNext Composite index was weaker by 0.52 percent.
Losses was led by a 4.7 percent slump in consumer sector , its worst day in more than two years, with bellwether Kweichow Moutai ending down 4.6 percent after posting full-year results.
Sectors including consumer firms that had robust gains in the past year or so might be falling out of favour with investors, said Chen Xiaopeng, an analyst with Sealand Securities.
As China attaches more importance to the quality of its economy, investors turned more to high-tech firms and companies in emerging industries.
Banking shares were relatively stable, down 0.1 percent, as the country's top lenders reported their best profit growth in three years on better net interest margins.
The retreat on Wednesday pointed to fragile sentiment as many analysts suggested caution at a time when trade spat worries pulled down sentiment.
Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was weaker by 1.29 percent while Japan's Nikkei index closed down 1.34 percent.
At 07:09 GMT, the yuan was quoted at 6.2785 per US dollar, 0.02 percent weaker than the previous close of 6.2775.
The largest percentage gainers in the main Shanghai Composite index were Tianjin Capital Environmental Protection Group Co Ltd up 10.02 percent, followed by Xinjiang Tianrun Dairy Co Ltd gaining 9.99 percent and Sinomach Automobile Co Ltd up by 9.3 percent.
The largest percentage losses in the Shanghai index were SDIC Zhonglu Fruit Juice Co Ltd down 10.02 percent, followed by Sanjiang Shopping Club Co Ltd losing 10 percent and Zhe Jiang Dong Ri Ltd Co down by 9.99 percent.
As of 07:10 GMT, China's A-shares were trading at a premium of 24.39 percent over the Hong Kong-listed H-shares.
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