China shares rise after Navarro backtracks on trade deal comment; Hang Seng up

Chinese shares rose on Tuesday after White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said the U.S. trade deal with China "continues in place", turning around from losses after Navarro earlier said the deal was "over." ** At the midday break, the Shanghai Composite index was up 0.17% at 2,970.30 and China's blue-chip CSI300 index was up 0.33%.

Chinese shares rose on Tuesday after White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said the U.S. trade deal with China "continues in place", turning around from losses after Navarro earlier said the deal was "over."

** At the midday break, the Shanghai Composite index was up 0.17% at 2,970.30 and China's blue-chip CSI300 index was up 0.33%.

** Both indexes fell as much as 0.52% in early trade after Navarro's initial comments that the trade deal between Washington and Beijing was "over", aired on Fox News during the trading day in Asia on Tuesday.

** But after his comments stoked market volatility, Navarro said the trade deal with China "continues in place", while U.S. President Donald Trump said in a tweet the deal with China was "fully intact".

** The CSI300 financial sector sub-index fell 0.26%, the consumer staples sector gained 1.95%, the real estate index lost 0.46% and the healthcare sub-index was up 1.07% at midday.

** Chinese H-shares listed in Hong Kong rose 0.64% to 9,942.6, while the Hang Seng Index was up 0.97% at 24,749.46.

** The smaller Shenzhen index was up 0.31% and the start-up board ChiNext Composite index was higher by 0.78%.

** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was firmer by 0.67% while Japan's Nikkei index was up 1.02%.

** The yuan was quoted at 7.078 per U.S. dollar, 0.14% weaker than the previous close of 7.0678.

** So far this year, the Shanghai stock index is down 2.78%, while China's H-share index is down 11.5%. Shanghai stocks have risen by 3.96% this month.