China stocks post worst day in 6 weeks as poor tech earnings, Trump fears weigh

China and Hong Kong stocks fell sharply on Friday with blue-chip CSI300 and Shanghai Composite posting theirbiggest single-day losses since Oct. 9, dragged down bybig tech firms’ disappointing earningsand investors’ fears over U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s future policies on China.

The Shanghai Composite index .SSEC closed3.06% lower at3,267.19.

The CSI300 index .CSI300 lost 3.1%, its financial sector sub-index .CSI300FS eased 3.38%, the consumer staples sector .CSI000912 fell 2.96%, the real estate index .CSI000952 dropped 2.95% and the healthcare sub-index .CSI300HC shed 3.8%.

** Biotech firms .CSI399993 and brokerages .CSI399975 led the decline, slipping morethan 4% each.

** Hong Kong’s HangSeng index .HSI dipped 371.14 points, or 1.89%, to 19,229.97, Hang Seng China Enterprises index .HSCE slid 2.1% to 6,887.05 andHang Seng Tech Index .HSTECH lost 2.6%.

** “It doesn’t look like any single news triggered the major sell-off today…if you look at the sectors heavily hit, it appears market is a bit worried about more upcomingU.S. policy against China,” said Steven Leung, executive director of institutional sales at UOB Kay Hian.

** The Texas governor on Thursday orderedstate agencies to stop investing in China and sell assets there as soon as possible.

** A Reuters poll this week showed the Trump administration could impose nearly 40% tariffs on Chinese importsearly next year.

** Meanwhile, e-commerce giant PDD Holdings PDD.O and search engine operator Baidu 9888.HK posted lower-than-expected third-quarter results, indicating that the economy continues to facechallenges despite the recentstimulus measures.

** Baidu’s Hong Kong shares slumped 8.6% at close after the firm said it has not seen any notable improvement in advertising spending patterns or consumer spending yet.

** Investors are losing patience as there hasn’t been any further official measures afterthe fiscal stimulus failed to meet market expectations, Leung said.

** The smaller Shenzhen index .SZSC lost 3.54% and the start-up board ChiNext Composite index .CNT eased3.985%.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Summer Zhen; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Sumana Nandy)