China tech shares rally on reform cheer for the second day; Hang Seng down

Shares on China's tech-heavy start-up board ChiNext extended gains for a second day on Tuesday, as investors cheered Beijing's market reforms to help foster its tech sector. ** Shares of 14 companies surged for a second day after their debut on the ChiNext board on Monday, following a historic reform that relaxed the listing requirements and trading rules of the bourse.

Shares on China's tech-heavy start-up board ChiNext extended gains for a second day on Tuesday, as investors cheered Beijing's market reforms to help foster its tech sector.

** At the midday break, China's blue-chip CSI300 index was up 0.24%, with its consumer staples sector up 1.98%. The Shanghai Composite index was down 0.19% at 3,379.12 points.

** ChiNext rose 0.95%, while the STAR50 index was down 1.3%.

** Shares of 14 companies surged for a second day after their debut on the ChiNext board on Monday, following a historic reform that relaxed the listing requirements and trading rules of the bourse. The reform also allows Shenzhen to officially challenge Shanghai for tech listing.

** BOC International analysts wrote that a revamped ChiNext board will benefit brokerages who have listing projects on hand and new shares in the short term, and tech shares in the long run.

** Guangdong Modern High-tech Fiber Co surged by 35.4% on its second day of listing, while Xinjiang Tianshan Animal Husbandry Bio-Engineer surged by 20% in the morning session.

** New ChiNext shares can now trade without a daily cap for the first five trading days and can trade up to 20% in sessions afterward. It allowed shares to rise or fall up to 10% previously.

** To add relief to the market, China said on Tuesday it agreed with the U.S. to continue pushing forward the implementation of the Phase 1 trade deal reached earlier this year during a call between top trade negotiators of the two countries.

** In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index was down 0.53% at 25,416.36, while the Hong Kong China Enterprises Index fell 0.74% to 10,259.98.

** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was firmer by 1.38%, while Japan's Nikkei index was up 1.84%.

** The yuan was quoted at 6.91 per U.S. dollar, 0.13% firmer than the previous close of 6.919.