SHANGHAI: China and Hong Kong stocks closed down on Monday, led by tech and media shares, as profit-taking in those sectors capped advances of key indexes, while the Chinese yuan rebounded from a four-month low.
The CSI Anime Comic Game Index fell 4.6%, the largest one-day percentage drop in a month, after rallying nearly 30% since early February.
Tech giants traded in Hong Kong fell 0.5%.
Real estate shares were one of the few bright spots on Monday after Premier Li Qiang said China would further optimise property policy and effectively motivate potential demands.
The blue-chip CSI300 index was down 0.54%, with its financial sector sub-index lower by 0.5%, the consumer staples sector down 0.76%, the real estate index up 1.62% and the healthcare sub-index down 0.6%.
The smaller Shenzhen index ended down 1.45% and the start-up board ChiNext Composite index was weaker by 1.912%.
Around the region, MSCI’s Asia ex-Japan stock index was weaker by 0.2%, while Japan’s Nikkei index closed down 1.16%. At 0659 GMT, the yuan was quoted at 7.2064 per US dollar, 0.31% firmer than the previous close of 7.229. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index was down 25.83 points or 0.16% at 16,473.64. The Hang Seng China Enterprises index fell 0.05% to 5,754.65.
The sub-index of the Hang Seng tracking energy shares rose 1.2%, while the IT sector rose 0.11%, the financial sector ended 0.91% lower and the property sector rose 0.11%.
The top gainer on the Hang Seng was China Hongqiao Group Ltd , which gained 13.4%, while the biggest loser was Lenovo Group Ltd, which fell 8.63%.