China stocks fall amid COVID flare-ups, even as Taiwan tensions ease

** Defence stocks retreated 2.4% on Friday, while still up nearly 3% for the week amid geopolitical tensions. ** Energy shares rose more than 2%, and real estate developers added 1.3%.

China stocks slipped on Friday as domestic COVID-19 cases rose sharply, though the blue-chip index snapped a five-week losing streak as geopolitical tensions over Taiwan eased. Hong Kong shares rose, led by tech plays.

** The CSI300 index lost 0.1%, but rose 0.8% for the week, after posting five consecutive weekly losses. The Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.2%. ** In Hong Kong, both the Hang Seng index and the Hong Kong China Enterprises Index added 0.5%.

** Daily caseload for COVID-19 has risen to more than 2,000 in recent two days from around 1,000 earlier. ** "COVID-19 resurgence still weighs on market confidence in macro recovery despite continuous containment policy re-calibration," Morgan Stanley analysts wrote in a note.

** "The ongoing housing market uncertainty may also potentially delay the macro economy's bottoming out," they added. ** Defence stocks retreated 2.4% on Friday, while still up nearly 3% for the week amid geopolitical tensions.

** Energy shares rose more than 2%, and real estate developers added 1.3%. ** Most other sectors remained tepid. Information technology shares lost 1.5%, while new energy stocks were down 1.6%.

** Mainland property developers traded in Hong Kong gained 0.3%, as confidence in the sector recovered a bit after Longfor Group denied rumours that it had missed payment on commercial paper. ** Hong Kong-listed tech companies edged up 0.5%, with index heavyweights Alibaba and Meituan up more than 1% each.

** China's sportswear group Li Ning Co surged nearly 5%, as its first-half net profit and revenue jumped.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)