SHANGHAI: Chinese stocks fell on Friday tracking broadly weaker Asian equities, as traders scaled back bets on US interest rate cuts amid a murky inflation outlook, while China’s shrinking trade in March also hurt sentiment.

Denting investor appetite for riskier assets, the dollar hovered near a five-month high alongside US Treasury yields in the wake of hotter-than-expected March consumer price data. Meanwhile, data on Thursday showed US producer prices increased only moderately.

China’s March exports contracted sharply while imports unexpectedly shrank, undershooting market forecasts by big margins, customs data showed on Friday, highlighting the stiff task facing policymakers as they try to bolster a shaky economic recovery.

The Shanghai Composite index closed down 0.49% at 3,019.47, and the blue-chip CSI 300 index fell 0.81%.

Healthcare stocks, financial sector , consumer staples and real estate declined between 0.94% and 3.2%.

The Hang Seng index fell 373.34 points or 2.18% at 16,721.69. The Hang Seng China Enterprises index dropped 2.07% to 5,879.58.

For the week, the CSI 300 fell 2.6%, its worst week since Feb. 2, while the Hang Seng was almost unchanged.

The smaller Shenzhen index ended down 0.81% and the start-up board ChiNext Composite index was weaker by 1.08%.

The sub-index of the Hang Seng tracking energy shares dropped 1%, while the IT sector fell 1.96%, the financial sector ended 2.68% lower and the property sector retreated 2.83%.

Around the region, MSCI’s Asia ex-Japan stock index was weaker by 0.99%, while Japan’s Nikkei index closed up 0.21%.