** At the midday break, the Shanghai Composite index was down 0.6% at 2,916.78. The the blue-chip CSI300 index was also down 0.6%.

** CSI300's financial sector sub-index was lower by 0.8%, the consumer staples sector was flat, the real estate index fell 0.4% and the healthcare sub-index lost 0.5%. The I.T. sector was down over 1%.

** Chinese H-shares listed in Hong Kong fell 0.8%. The Hang Seng Index also fell 0.8% and stood at 28,106.22 points at midday.

** The smaller Shenzhen index was down 0.5% and the start-up board ChiNext Composite index was down almost 0.1%.

** Global markets retreated from pricing a 50 basis point cut from the U.S. Federal Reserve this month after stronger-than-expected jobs data from the United States last week.

** Nine Chinese companies, among the first to list on China's Nasdaq-style tech board, announced prices of their new share offer on Tuesday, as investors braced for a busy week for initial public offerings.

** Altogether, 21 firms planning to list on Shanghai's technology and innovation board, the STAR Market, are taking subscriptions from investors this week, diverting attention, and liquidity from other segments of the stock market.

** But Citic Securities said in a note "the (tech board's) impact on the (A-share) market is very limited, it's only an influence on sentiment" given the small initial market capitalisation of the new board, they said in a note on Tuesday.

** A more direct driver weighing on A-shares is tempered expectations of a large cut form the Federal Reserve in July which could prompt "a short-term outflow of overseas equity capital," they added.

** Investors are cautiously awaiting to slew of economic data ahead to assess health of China's economy. Over the next week, China will publish inflation, money supply, loan and trade data.

** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index  was weaker by 0.5% while Japan's Nikkei index  was flat.

** Apple Inc suppliers fell in Greater China. Cowell e Holdings was down 2.1%, Goertek Inc dropped 3%, AAC Technologies was down 3.2%, and Hon Hai Precision Industry <2317.TW was > down 1.4%.

** As of the midday break, China's A-shares were trading at a premium of 28.86% over the Hong Kong-listed H-shares.

** The Shanghai stock index is below its 50-day moving average and above its 200-day moving average.

** In Hong Kong, the sub-index of the Hang Seng index tracking energy shares dipped 0.4% while the IT sector fell 1.2%.

** The top gainer on the Hang Seng was Sands China Ltd , up 1.3%, while the biggest loser was Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd, which was down 5.3%.