China stocks slip on COVID outbreaks, property woes

** China's banking and insurance regulator urged banks to make adequate provisions for souring assets and classify risk prudently. ** Real estate developers edged down 0.4%, semiconductor firms lost 1.5%, and resource stocks dropped 1.1%.

China stocks edged down on Friday, as COVID-19 flare-ups and property-sector risks raised worries about growth prospects in the world's second-largest economy. The CSI300 index fell 0.2% to 4,229.39 by the end of the morning session, while the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.3% to 3,261.12.

The Hang Seng Index climbed 0.1% to 20,598.98. The Hong Kong China Enterprises Index gained 0.2% to 7,113.96. ** For the week, the CSI300 Index was down 0.5%, while the Hang Seng Index rose 1.5%.

** "A-share sentiment was largely flat in the past week," Morgan Stanley said in a note. "Investors remain sensitive to COVID developments, especially the cluster outbreaks in Guangxi and Gansu, and continuous fermentation of mortgage delinquency." ** "We also view potential downward earnings estimate revision acceleration and spillover effect from any further US market correction as near-term dragging factors."

** China reported 1,011 new coronavirus cases for Thursday. The domestic daily caseload has hovered around 1,000 recently, denting sentiment and clouding the prospect of an economic recovery. ** China's banking and insurance regulator urged banks to make adequate provisions for souring assets and classify risk prudently.

** Real estate developers edged down 0.4%, semiconductor firms lost 1.5%, and resource stocks dropped 1.1%. ** Investors are awaiting the U.S. Federal Reserve policy meeting next week, and expectations of a 100-basis-point interest rate hike have faded in favor of a 75-bp move.

** Tech giants listed in Hong Kong rose 0.4% after China's cybersecurity regulator concluded a probe on Didi Global, removing near-term uncertainty. ** Separately, futures and options based on China's small-cap CSI 1000 Index started trading, spawning fresh products and strategies from fund managers seeking to capitalize on the new hedging instruments.