China stocks fall as industrial profits shrink

China shares fell on Wednesday as weak industrial profit data highlighted growing strains on the economy, outweighing U.S. President Donald Trump's remark that an initial trade deal with Beijing was near.

** At the close, the Shanghai Composite index fell 0.1% to 2,903.19 and the blue-chip CSI300 index was down 0.4%, while most other Asian markets gained on hopes of a deal. ** The CSI300 financial sector sub-index fell 0.3%, the consumer staples sector eased 0.1%, and the real estate index was down 0.9%. ** The smaller Shenzhen index lost 0.2% and the start-up board ChiNext Composite index was weaker by 0.3%. ** Profits at China's industrial firms shrank at their fastest pace in eight months in October, official data showed. ** Industrial profits fell 9.9% in October year-on-year to 427.56 billion yuan ($60.74 billion), marking the biggest drop since the January-February period and compared with a 5.3% decline in September. ** Trump said Washington was in the "final throes" of work on a deal that would defuse a 16-month trade war with Beijing, but also underscored Washington's support for protesters in Hong Kong, a potential huge sore point with China. ** China said on Tuesday it had summoned the U.S. ambassador to protest the passage in the U.S. Congress of the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act. ** MSCI has completed the final phase of the 20% inclusion of Chinese A-shares in MSCI indexes, the index publisher said on Tuesday. A-shares now weighs 4% in the benchmark MSCI Emerging Markets Indexes, MSCI said. ** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was firmer by 0.4%, while Japan's Nikkei index closed up 0.3%. ** The largest percentage losers in the Shanghai index were Anyuan Coal Industry Group Co Ltd, down 10%, followed by Guirenniao Co Ltd and Zhejiang Hugeleaf Co Ltd, both down by 9.9%. ** About 13.39 billion shares were traded on the Shanghai exchange. The volume in the previous trading session was 17 billion. ** The Shanghai stock index is below its 50-day moving average and below its 200-day moving average.

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