SHANGHAI: China stocks were nearly flat Thursday morning, with gains in consumer and healthcare shares offset by losses in newly-listed firms, after the securities regulator slapped a record fine on a Chinese company for share price manipulation.
At 04:04 GMT, the Shanghai Composite index was down 0.04 percent at 3,290.08, while the blue-chip CSI300 index was up 0.4 percent at 4,089.25.
Chinese H-shares listed in Hong Kong rose 0.24 percent at 12,715.09, while the Hang Seng Index was up 0.12 percent at 31,473.14.
Trading was thin in the mainland and Hong Kong as investors remained cautious amid mounting investor concerns that growing trade tensions would hurt the global economy.
An index tracking newly-listed firms in Shenzhen slumped 3.8 percent, poised for its worst day since early February.
Newly-listed stocks (on the mainland) could easily fall victim to short-term speculation due to their new concepts, limited number of tradable shares and low PE ratios, the official Xinhua quoted investigators from China's securities regulator as saying.
China's financial watchdogs are pushing for harsher rules and stepping up action against miscreants, spurred on by official pressure on them to curb risk in the financial system, according to multiple sources with direct knowledge of the situation.
Officials at the central bank, as well as at the banking, insurance and securities regulators, have been stepping up their enforcement activities, which have been under increased scrutiny since late last year, the sources told Reuters.
Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was weaker by 0.06 percent while Japan's Nikkei index was up 0.13 percent.
The yuan was quoted at 6.3124 per US dollar, 0.05 percent firmer than the previous close of 6.3154.
The largest percentage gainers in the main Shanghai Composite index were SDIC Zhonglu Fruit Juice Co Ltd up 10.05 percent, followed by Luoyang Glass Co Ltd gaining 10.03 percent and Huadian Energy Co Ltd up by 10 percent.
The largest percentage losers in the Shanghai index were Shanghai Fukong Interactive Entertainment Co Ltd down 10.03 percent, followed by Tederic Machinery Co Ltd falling 6.54 percent and Changshu Fengfan Power Equipment Co Ltd down by 5.84 percent.
The top gainers among H-shares were China Pacific Insurance Group Co Ltd up 3.08 percent, followed by Ping An Insurance Group Co of China Ltd gaining 2.97 percent and CSPC Pharmaceutical Group Ltd up 1.98 percent.
The three biggest H-shares percentage decliners were CITIC Ltd which has fallen 1.90 percent, Zhuzhou CRRC Times Electric Co Ltd which has lost 1.9 percent and Dongfeng Motor Group Co Ltd down by 1.8 percent.
About 8.23 billion shares have traded so far on the Shanghai exchange, roughly 43.6 percent of the market's 30-day moving average of 18.88 billion shares a day. The volume traded was 15.75 billion as of the last full trading day.
As of 04:04 GMT, China's A-shares were trading at a premium of 24.57 percent over the Hong Kong-listed H-shares.
The Shanghai stock index is below its 50-day moving average and below its 200-day moving average.
The price-to-earnings ratio of the Shanghai index was 14.95 as of the last full trading day while the dividend yield was 1.9 percent.
So far this week, the market capitalisation of the Shanghai stock index has fallen by 0.48 percent to 29.37 trillion yuan.
In Hong Kong, the sub-index of the Hang Seng index tracking energy shares dipped 1.1 percent while the IT sector rose 0.6 percent.
The top gainer on Hang Seng was Ping An Insurance Group Co of China Ltd up 2.97 percent, while the biggest loser was China Mengniu Dairy Co Ltd which was down 2.69 percent.
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