SHANGHAI: China stocks fell on Tuesday, dragged by liquor shares, as the country’s efforts to spur domestic consumption and fuel growth through key interest rate cuts did not stave off market pessimism.
China stocks track Asian markets higher
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Liquor and consumer-related shares slumped on Tuesday, dragging Chinese shares, as consumer sentiment remained fragile after the key leadership gathering last week.
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China surprised markets on Monday by lowering a string of major short- and long-term interest rates, in an effort to boost growth in the world’s second-largest economy.
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The surprise monetary easing won’t move the needle on growth but it sends a strong signal that authorities are going to “actively expand domestic demand” as stated in their Third Plenum by exhausting all policy means, said analysts at TD Securities.
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At the midday break, the Shanghai Composite index was down 0.59% at 2,946.63 points.
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China’s blue-chip CSI300 index was down 1.05%, with its financial sector sub-index higher by 0.59%. Consumer staples fell 2.13%, the real estate index declined 0.86% and the healthcare sub-index lost 2.06%.
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Liquor shares dropped 3.2%, while chip stocks were down 3.1%.
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Chinese H-shares listed in Hong Kong fell 0.1% to 6,247.51, while the Hang Seng Index was down 0.09% at 17,620.16.
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The smaller Shenzhen index was down 1.16%, the start-up board ChiNext Composite index was weaker by 1.55% and Shanghai’s tech-focused STAR50 index was down 2.38%.
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Around the region, MSCI’s Asia ex-Japan stock index was firmer by 0.67% while Japan’s Nikkei index was down 0.02%.
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The yuan was quoted at 7.2737 per US dollar, 0% weaker than the previous close of 7.2736.
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