Reuters| Shanghai | China
China and Hong Kong stocks fell on Wednesday after a recent recovery, as investors were worried that policies announced by Beijing are inadequate to reinvigorate the coronavirus-battered economy. ** China's bluechip index CSI300, which had bounced more than 6% from a April 27 low, fell 0.6% by the midday break. The Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.4%. In Hong Kong, the benchmark Hang Seng Index dropped 0.6%.
** The market had rebounded on signs China was rolling out more stimulus to aid an economy ravaged by the country's biggest Covid-19 outbreak in two years. ** Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He soothed the tech sector's nerves on Tuesday, saying the government supported the development of the sector and public listings for technology companies.
** The Hang Seng Tech Index, which had jumped roughly 14% over the past week in expectation of the meeting, dropped 1.7% on profit-taking on the lack of detailed support measures. ** Property shares, which also rebounded on signs of policy easing, also fell on gloomy April data.
** "Housing prices dropped in more cities in April. The sector is going through a crisis," Zhiwei Zhang, president, and chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management said. ** "The government policy has turned more supportive but not overwhelmingly so ... It is not clear when the housing sector will rebound."
** In its mid-year outlook, Morgan Stanley said it expects China's 2022 growth to come in at a below-target 5.2%, with the drag from the COVID-zero strategy "only partially offset by broad-based easing" as signaled in the Politburo meeting. ** Sentiment was further doused after data showed foreign investors cut their holdings of Chinese yuan-denominated bonds for the third consecutive month in April, the longest such stretch on record.
** China's STAR50 index, home to Chinese chipmakers and high-end manufacturing firms, rose 0.4%.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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