China, Hong Kong stocks little changed; STAR Market still big attraction

China and Hong Kong stocks barely moved on Tuesday, as the newly launched Nasdaq-style STAR Market continued to attract attention. The CSI300 index fell 0.1%, to 3,777.38at the end of the morning session, while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.1%, to 2,888.93.

The Hang Seng index added 0.1%, to 28,402.16, while the Hong Kong China Enterprises Index gained 0.3%, to 10,806.64. The STAR Market kicked off its second day of trading on Tuesday with sharp falls in most listed shares, a day after the shares posted average gains of 140%, underscoring the volatility of the country's new Nasdaq-style board.

Data from the Shanghai Stock Exchange showed most institutional investors sold their shares on Monday, while retail investors bought. Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was firmer by 0.08% while Japan's Nikkei index was up 1.18%. The yuan was quoted at 6.8831 per U.S. dollar, 0.02% weaker than the previous close of 6.8817.

The largest percentage gainers in the main Shanghai Composite index were Shanghai Huitong Energy Co Ltd, up 10.05%, followed by Ningbo Tianlong Electronics Co Ltd, gaining 10.03% and Xinjiang Xuefeng Sci-Tech Group Co Ltd, up by 10.02%. The largest percentage losers in the Shanghai index were Guangzhou Yuetai Group Co Ltd down 10.13%, followed by Seazen Holdings Co Ltd losing 8.62% and Suzhou Secote Precision Electronic Co Ltd down by 8.51%. So far this year, the Shanghai stock index is up 15.76%, while China's H-share index is up 6.4%. Shanghai stocks have declined 3.09% this month.

The top gainers among H-shares were Hengan International Group Company Ltd, up 5.51%, followed by ANTA Sports Products Ltd, gaining 3.4% and PICC Property and Casualty Co Ltd, up by 3.39%. The three biggest H-shares percentage decliners were Country Garden Holdings Co Ltd, which has fallen 2.33%, China Vanke Co Ltd, which has lost 2.3% and China Pacific Insurance Group Co Ltd, down by 1.7%.

About 7.18 billion shares have traded so far on the Shanghai exchange, roughly 37.3% of the market's 30-day moving average of 19.26 billion shares a day. The volume traded was 18.07 billion as of the last full trading day. As of 04:19 GMT, China's A-shares were trading at a premium of 27.27% over the Hong Kong-listed H-shares.

Also Read: STAR Market- China's answer to Nasdaq set to begin trading