Shanghai shares set to snap five weeks of gains after Wall St selloff; Hong Kong down

China stocks fell on Friday after a sharp overnight selloff in Wall Street, with the benchmark Shanghai index set to snap a five-week winning streak.

** The CSI300 index fell 1.6% to 4,740.73 points at the end of the morning session, while the Shanghai Composite Index dropped 1.4% to 3,338.14 points. ** The tech-heavy start-up board index lost 1.7%, while the STAR50 index eased 1.2%.

** For the week, CSI300 was down 2.1%, while SSEC shed 1.8% and is on track to break a five-week winning streak. ** Wall Street's main indexes marked their deepest one-day dives in months on Thursday as investors dumped the high-flying technology sector, while economic data highlighted concerns about a long and difficult recovery.

** The U.S. selloff dented sentiment in the A-share market, as foreign investors tended to retreat via the Stock Connect after such corrections, said Zheng Zichun, an analyst with AVIC Securities. ** Investors on Friday sold a net 3.75 billion yuan ($548.14 million) worth of China stocks via the Stock Connect linking mainland and Hong Kong, which allows foreign investors access to the country's onshore equities, according to Refinitiv data.

** Leading the declines, the CSI300 consumer staples index dropped 3.2% by midday on worries about lofty valuations. ** Apple Inc's suppliers also fell, after the iPhone maker's shares slipped 8% overnight.

** However, AVIC Securities' Zheng remained optimistic about the long-term outlook for A-shares, citing low valuations compared with their U.S. peers and Beijing's continued policy support as it needs a robust market to finance the country's tech industries. ** Bucking the broad retreat, China's semiconductor firms climbed on report of new policies to prop up the chip sector.

** In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index dropped 1.8%, to 24,551.18 points, while the Hong Kong China Enterprises Index lost 1.3%, to 9,809.44 points.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)