China stocks fall as Sino-U.S. tensions weigh; Hong Kong down

** The Hang Seng index dropped 0.6% to 24,450.24 points, while the Hong Kong China Enterprises Index slipped 0.2% to 9,745.45 points.

China stocks were set to extend their three-day losing streak on Tuesday, dragged down by consumer firms, as sentiment was weighed by worries over escalating Sino-U.S. tensions.

** President Donald Trump on Monday again raised the idea of de-coupling the U.S. and Chinese economies, suggesting the United States would not lose money if the world's two biggest economies no longer did business. ** The CSI300 index fell 0.5% to 4,646.07 points at the end of the morning session, on track for its fourth straight day of declines, while the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.3% to 3,281.29 points and is set for the fifth session of losses.

** Consumer firms led the retreat, with the CSI300 consumer staples index falling 2.3%. The index is now down 7% this month. ** Active trading in Shenzhen's ChiNext board attracted margin traders and retail investors, drawing liquidity away from once-actively traded stocks such as tech and consumer firms on the mainboard, said Wan Kelin, an analyst with Huaxi Securities.

** On Monday, the turnover for ChiNext reached 355.6 billion yuan ($52.02 billion), nearly equal to that of 359 billion yuan for the whole Shanghai market. ** China's tech-heavy start-up board ChiNext slipped 0.9% by midday, while the STAR50 index dropped 1.8%.

** The newly launched Hang Seng tech index slumped 3%. ** The Hang Seng index dropped 0.6% to 24,450.24 points, while the Hong Kong China Enterprises Index slipped 0.2% to 9,745.45 points.

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