China stocks wobble as bond concerns, geopolitics weigh on sentiment

China stocks ​struggled for direction on Tuesday, while Hong ​Kong shares rose as ‌investors assessed the ​impact of the U.S.-China summit outcomes and the global bond selloff. ** China's blue-chip CSI300 Index was down 0.5% ‌by the lunch break, while the Shanghai Composite Index was flat.

China stocks ​struggled for direction on Tuesday, while Hong ​Kong shares rose as ‌investors assessed the ​impact of the U.S.-China summit outcomes and the global bond selloff.

** China's blue-chip CSI300 Index was down 0.5% ‌by the lunch break, while the Shanghai Composite Index was flat. ** Hong Kong benchmark Hang Seng rose 0.4%.

** Investors remained cautious as recent surging bond yields put pressure on Asian ‌equities. ** Geopolitical risks continue to keep investors on edge. U.S. President Donald Trump ‌said on Monday that he had paused a planned attack against Iran.

** China's rare earth stocks declined 2.4% by midday after Australia ordered China background investors to divest their holdings in a rare ⁠earths project. ** ​Meanwhile, Trump's China ⁠visit failing to achieving breakthroughs on trade has also kept investors on the sidelines.

** Eugene Hsiao, head ⁠of China equity strategy at Macquarie Capital, said investors "expected some hard agreement or tangible thing to ​come out," but that didn't happen. ** On the positive side, one thing ⁠people are arguably pricing in, is a degree of global stability, he added.

** In Hong Kong, ⁠bank ​stocks led gains, up nearly 1%. ** Standard Chartered Bank's Hong Kong shares jumped 2.5%, as the firm announced plans to achieve higher returns, including cutting 7,000 roles ⁠by 2030.

** The smaller Shenzhen index was down 0.49%, the start-up board ChiNext Composite index ⁠was weaker ⁠by 1.21% and Shanghai's tech-focused STAR50 index was up 1.01%. ** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was weaker by 1.13%, while ‌Japan's Nikkei ‌index was down 0.41%.