China's Shanghai Composite index shed early gains to end at its weakest close in 31 months on Tuesday as investors took a cautious stance awaiting developments in international trade disputes. At the close, the Shanghai Composite index was down 4.69 points or 0.2 percent at 2,669.48. It was the lowest close for the index since Jan 28, 2016. Earlier in the session, the index hit an intraday low of 2,652.70, its lowest level since Feb. 29, 2016.
The blue-chip CSI300 index was down 0.18 percent, with its financial sector sub-index ending 0.59 percent lower, the consumer staples sector ended up 0.51 percent, the real estate index closed down 0.92 percent and healthcare sub-index ended 0.55 percent firmer.
The smaller Shenzhen index ended up 0.17 percent and the start-up board ChiNext Composite index was higher by 0.31 percent.
Some suppliers of Apple Inc extended losses after US President Donald Trump tweeted that the tech giant should make products in the United States if it wanted to avoid tariffs on Chinese imports.
Among Apple suppliers, Shenzhen Sunway Communication Co Ltd
ended 2.1 percent lower and Suzhou Dongshan Precision Manufacturing Co Ltd closed 3.6 percent down, but Luxshare Precision Co Ltd bounced 0.9 percent after a 10-percent plunge on Monday.
Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was weaker by 0.11 percent, while Japan's Nikkei index closed up 1.3 percent.
At 0709 GMT, the yuan was quoted at 6.8607 per US dollar, 0.07 percent weaker than previous close of 6.8557.
The largest percentage gainers in the main Shanghai Composite index were Jiangsu New Energy Development Co Ltd, which ended 10 percent firmer, followed by SEC Electric Machinery Co Ltd, which closed up 10 percent and ZhongTongGuoMai Communication Co Ltd, which ended up 10 percent.
The largest percentage losses in the Shanghai index were Nanjing Central Emporium Group Stocks Co Ltd, which closed down 10.08 percent, followed by Maanshan Iron & Steel Co Ltd, which ended 10.05 percent lower and Shandong Hualu Hengsheng Chemical Co Ltd, which closed 10.01 percent weaker.
So far this year, the Shanghai stock index is down 19.4 percent, the CSI300 fell 20 percent while, China's H-share index listed in Hong Kong is down 11.5 percent. Shanghai stocks have declined 2.22 percent this month. About 9.99 billion shares were traded on the Shanghai exchange, roughly 84 percent of the market's 30-day moving average of 11.89 billion shares a day. The volume in the previous trading session was 10.36 billion. 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 11.25 as of the last full trading day, while the dividend yield was 2.8 percent. So far this week, the market capitalisation of the Shanghai stock index dropped 1.19 percent to 28.43 trillion yuan.
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