China stocks close lower after inflation eases in October

The Shanghai Composite Index shed 0.4%. ** China's factory-gate prices fell at a sharper-than-expected pace in October, indicating tepid upstream demand for industrial goods despite a broader economic recovery.

Chinese shares closed lower on Tuesday as glum data signalled a roadblock to the country's broader economic recovery. ** The blue-chip CSI300 index ended 0.6% lower at 4,953.88, after hitting a five-year high in the previous session. The Shanghai Composite Index shed 0.4%.

** China's factory-gate prices fell at a sharper-than-expected pace in October, indicating tepid upstream demand for industrial goods despite a broader economic recovery. ** Consumer inflation was also soft, easing to an 11-year low as pork prices snapped a year-and-a-half of steep increases that were fuelled by critical shortages of the popular meat.

** Tech shares tracked weakness on the Nasdaq Composite overnight as companies that outperformed during the pandemic fell on news of the trial success of an experimental COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer Inc. ** The CSI info tech sub-index fell 1.7%, the start-up board ChiNext Composite index was weaker by 1.5% and Shanghai's tech-focused STAR50 index slumped 2.9%​.

** Despite gains by airlines and some pharmaceutical firms, enthusiasm over the Pfizer vaccine, which lifted global shares, was generally muted in mainland markets. ** "In China, from May through to the present, the epidemic control has been far more effective than in Europe and the United States. So, the overall urgent demand for a vaccine is not as high in China," said Zhang Gang, an analyst at Central China Securities in Shanghai.

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