SHANGHAI: China stocks closed sharply lower on Friday, tracking weakness in global markets after softer-than-expected US factory activity data sparked fears of a downturn, while the Middle East conflict and China’s fragile recovery also dented sentiment.

A measure of US manufacturing activity dropped to an eight-month low in July amid a slump in new orders, data showed on Thursday, sparking broad risk-off moves across markets even after signals from the Federal Reserve earlier this week that a rate cut could come as soon as September.

Tensions in the Middle East escalated, after the Israeli military said on Thursday that the head of Hamas’ military wing, Mohammed Deif, was killed last month in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza, a day after the group’s political leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Tehran.

Investors were also concerned about China’s economic woes. Data earlier this week showed that manufacturing activity shrank sharply. China also reported weaker-than-expected second-quarter economic growth earlier this month.

“Global markets have experienced wild swings, with investors flocking to safe assets on expectations that the Federal Reserve may cut interest rates sharply, while concerns about an economic slowdown and investment returns from technology giants have led to uncertainty and defensive investment trends,” said Zheng Yufei, an analyst at Guosen Securities (HK).

At the close, the Shanghai Composite index was down 0.92% at 2,905.34, the biggest one-day loss since July 23.

The blue-chip CSI300 index was down 1.02%, with its financial sector sub-index lower by 1.07%, the consumer staples sector up 0.07%, the real estate index down 1.22% and the healthcare sub-index up 0.91%.

The Hang Seng index finished down 359.45 points or 2.08% at 16,945.51. The Hang Seng China Enterprises index fell 1.83% to 5,974.85.

For the week, the CSI 300 slipped 0.7%, while the Hang Seng lost 0.4%.

The smaller Shenzhen index ended down 1.27% and the start-up board ChiNext Composite index was weaker by 1.661%.

The sub-index of the Hang Seng tracking energy shares dipped 1.2%, while the IT sector dipped 2.7%, the financial sector ended 1.96% lower and the property sector dipped 1.28%.

Around the region, MSCI’s Asia ex-Japan stock index was weaker by 2.38%, while Japan’s Nikkei index closed down 5.81%.