China stocks were tepid on Monday as investors pondered the developments in the simmering China-US trade spat. At the close, the Shanghai Composite index was up 0.3 percent at 3,138.29, while the blue-chip CSI300 index was down 0.1 percent at 3,852.93.
The smaller Shenzhen index ended unchanged for the day and the start-up board ChiNext Composite index was higher by 0.26 percent. US President Donald Trump predicted on Sunday that China would take down its trade barriers, expressing optimism despite escalating trade tensions between the world's two largest economies that have roiled global markets in the past week.
China's trade frictions with the United States will not have a big impact on China's economy, a state planner researcher said on Monday. "There is rising uncertainty amid the China-US trade spat, though expectations of material impact (from the spat) have faded," Sinolink Securities wrote in a note, adding the market was somewhat prepared for the Section 301 trade spat after the imposition of steel and aluminium tariffs.
Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was firmer by 0.64 percent while Japan's Nikkei index closed up 0.51 percent. The largest percentage gainers in the main Shanghai Composite index were Xinjiang Sayram Modern Agriculture Co Ltd up 10.1 percent, followed by BGRIMM Technology Co Ltd gaining 10.03 percent and Beijing Jingcheng Machinery Electric Co Ltd up by 10.03 percent.
The largest percentage losses in the Shanghai index were Taiyuan Lionhead Cement Co Ltd down 9.96 percent, followed by Wintime Energy Co Ltd losing 9.93 percent and Henan Ancai Hi-tech Co Ltd down by 6.21 percent. ** As of 07:04 GMT, China's A-shares were trading at a premium of 23.45 percent over the Hong Kong-listed H-shares.