China stocks seesaw in early trade, government vows support to achieve targets

China shares struggled for direction in morning trade on Friday, with traders expecting markets to gain momentum after the midday break as state media reported the country would strive to achieve economic targets and support the platform economy.

China shares struggled for direction in morning trade on Friday, with traders expecting markets to gain momentum after the midday break as state media reported the country would strive to achieve economic targets and support the platform economy. Hong Kong equities rose for a fourth straight session and were on track to snap three weeks of falls, as technology stocks advanced.

The CSI300 index fell 0.1% to 3,918.72 by the end of the morning session, while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.4% to 2,986.54. The Hang Seng index climbed 2.0% to 20,686.30. The Hong Kong China Enterprises Index gained 2.6% to 7,097.42.

** The Shanghai Composite Index has lost 8.2% so far in April and is set to log its biggest monthly drop since early 2016. ** China will strive to achieve full-year social and economic targets, and will keep stable operations of capital markets, state media said, citing a meeting of the Politburo, a top decision-making body of the ruling Communist Party. The report came after mainland markets halted trading for the midday break.

** The meeting also said China would roll out measures to support the healthy development of the platform economy, and Bloomberg News reported Beijing was discussing with American regulators the logistics of allowing on-site audit inspections of Chinese companies listed in New York. ** China's capital Beijing closed more gyms, malls, cinemas, and apartment blocks to contain a COVID-19 outbreak. Mainland China reported 15,688 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, up from 11,367 new cases a day earlier.

** "Sentiment marginally rebounded from last week's YTD low, reacting to top leaders' call for refocusing on infrastructure," Morgan Stanley said in a note. ** "However, macro uncertainty remains and our China economics team recently cut its 2022 GDP forecast further by 40bps, to 4.2% YoY. Meanwhile, earnings downward revisions are likely to continue for at least another 4-6 weeks."

** China's stock clearing agency said it would halve stock transfer fees from Friday to reduce investors' trading costs and reinvigorate markets, sending shares of brokers up 1.5%. ** Consumer discretionary and non-ferrous metal stocks both went up more than 2%, while automobiles rose 3.7%, led by a 10% surge in Chongqing Changan Automobile after it reported a 431.5% jump in quarterly net profit.

** Tech giants listed in Hong Kong jumped 5.9%, the biggest intraday gain since March 17, with Alibaba Group, Meituan, and Tencent Holdings up between 6% and 10%.