SHANGHAI: China stocks edged up on Monday after data showed growth in the country’s services activity accelerated in July, while Hong Kong shares tracked global markets lower on fears of a U.S. recession.

At the midday break, the Shanghai Composite index was up 0.07% at 2,907.33 points. China’s blue-chip CSI300 index was up 0.24%.

However, MSCI’s Asia ex-Japan stock index was weaker by 2.83%, while Japan’s Nikkei index was down 7.30%.

Investors globally rushed out of risky assets into safer bonds after bleak U.S. economic data triggered worries about whether the Federal Reserve will be able to engineer a soft landing and whether it requires more aggressive interest rate cuts to stave off a slowdown in the world’s largest economy.

Meanwhile, in China, the world’s second-largest economy, growth in the services activity accelerated in July, helped by new orders, although momentum in overseas demand eased to its slowest in 11 months, a private-sector survey showed on Monday.

The Caixin/S&P Global services purchasing managers’ index (PMI) rose to 52.1 from 51.2 in June, pointing to expansion for the 19th straight month.

China stocks slump as US slowdown fears grip global markets

Still, China grew much more slowly than expected in the second quarter and faces deflationary pressures and a protracted property slump, with retail sales growth in June grinding to its weakest pace since early 2023.

On the blue-chip CSI300, the financial sector sub-index was higher by 0.54%, the consumer staples sector rose 2.15%, the real estate index was up 2.15% and the healthcare sub-index gained 1.31%.

Chinese H-shares listed in Hong Kong fell 0.41% to 5,950.16, while the Hang Seng Index was down 0.22% at 16,908.96.

The smaller Shenzhen index was up 0.37%, the start-up board ChiNext Composite index was higher by 0.42% and Shanghai’s tech-focused STAR50 index was down 0.75%.