China shares fall on tech weakness; China Mobile up in Shanghai debut

SHANGHAI, Jan 5 (Reuters) – Chinese shares fell on Wednesday as weakness in technology stocks continued to drag on the overall market, with China’s market regulator levying new fines against leading technology names.

** At the midday break, the Shanghai Composite index (.SSEC) was down 0.81% at 3,602.74 points.

** China’s blue-chip CSI300 index (.CSI300) was down 0.67%, with info tech firms (.CSIINT) down 2.7%, the semiconductor sector (.CSIH30184) down 3.94% and industrial firms (.CSI000910) down 2.39%.

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** Weakness in technology firms mirrored global markets, but in a fresh reminder of regulatory overhang in China, the country’s top market regulator on Wednesday announced fines against Alibaba, Tencent Holdings Ltd (0700.HK), and Bilibili Inc (9626.HK) for failing to properly report about a dozen deals. read more

** Real estate shares continued the previous day’s rebound, with a sub-index tracking the sector (.CSI000952) up 3.44%.

** Worries over developer China Evergrande Group’s (3333.HK) near-term debt obligations saw some relief as the company announced a bondholder meeting to discuss delaying repayment.

** Evergrande shares were down 0.62% at midday.

** Chinese H-shares listed in Hong Kong (.HSCE) fell 1.32% to 8,072.54, while the Hang Seng index (.HSI) was down 0.85% at 23,092.83.

** The Hang Seng Tech index (.HSTECH) succumbed to global weakness affecting the sector, falling 3.54%, as heavyweight Meituan (3690.HK) dropped 9.43%.

** China Mobile Ltd shares gained 3.8% by midday in their Shanghai debut on Wednesday after the company raised 48.7 billion yuan ($7.64 billion) in China’s biggest public share offering in a decade. Its Hong Kong shares (0941.HK) rose 5.52%. read more

* The smaller Shenzhen index (.SZSC) was down 1.67%, the start-up board ChiNext Composite index (.CNT) was weaker by 2.77% and Shanghai’s tech-focused STAR50 index (.STAR50) was down 2.02%​.

** Around the region, MSCI’s Asia ex-Japan stock index (.MIAPJ0000PUS) was weaker by 0.86%, while Japan’s Nikkei index (.N25) was up 0.04%.

** The yuan was quoted at 6.3723 per U.S. dollar, unchanged from the previous close.

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Reporting by Andrew Galbraith; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/china-shares-fall-tech-weakness-china-mobile-up-shanghai-debut-2022-01-05/

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