China stocks fall as hawkish Fed, geopolitical concerns weigh

China stocks fell on Thursday after U.S. Fed officials signalled more aggressive measures to tame high inflation, while investors were also worried about Sino-U.S. relations as Washington sought to deter Beijing from aiding sanctions-hit Russia.

China stocks fell on Thursday after U.S. Fed officials signalled more aggressive measures to tame high inflation, while investors were also worried about Sino-U.S. relations as Washington sought to deter Beijing from aiding sanctions-hit Russia. The CSI300 index fell 0.7% to 4,248.93 by the end of the morning session, while the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.5% to 3,253.31.

The Hang Seng index rose 0.2% to 22,195.96. The Hong Kong China Enterprises Index gained 0.3% to 7,661.45. ** U.S. Federal Reserve policymakers on Wednesday signalled they stand ready to take more aggressive action to bring down unacceptably high inflation, including a possible half-percentage-point interest rate hike at the next policy meeting in May.

** The Biden administration on Wednesday warned Beijing not to take advantage of business opportunities created by sanctions, help Moscow evade export controls or process its banned financial transactions. ** The United States will "absolutely" enforce export controls if Chinese companies send semiconductors to Russia that were made with U.S technology, a move that could "essentially shut them down."

** Foreign investors were net sellers of China's stocks through the Stock Connect programme. Refinitiv data showed outflows totalling 1.48 billion yuan ($230 million), as of the midday break., ** Surging COVID-19 cases continued to dent investor sentiment. China reported 2,054 new confirmed coronavirus cases on March 23, down from 2,667 a day earlier.

** Shares in consumer staples, information technology, semiconductors and new energy went down between 1.6% and 2.3%. ** Social media and gaming giant Tencent Holdings lost 3% after posting its slowest revenue growth since it went public.

** Tech giants listed in Hong Kong edged down 0.2%, while mainland developers trading in the city dropped 1.2% ** Sunac China fell 5.7%. The developer is planning to extend payment on a 4 billion yuan ($627.85 mln) onshore puttable bond and is in preliminary negotiations with large holders, Reuters reported.

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