Semiconductor shares pull down China stocks; HK market closed

** At least eight China-listed gaming companies, including Perfect World Co, have announced share buyback plans worth as much as 780 million yuan ($109.17 million) in total to boost investor confidence and stabilise share prices across an industry shaken by new regulatory moves. ** Share prices of those companies mostly stabilised on Monday after sharp declines, with the CSI Anime Comic Game Index still down 1.1%.

China stocks finished lower on Tuesday, dragged down by semiconductor shares, while gaming stocks stabilised after a slew of companies announced share buyback plans. The Hong Kong market is closed for a holiday.

** China's blue-chip CSI300 Index and the Shanghai Composite Index both closed down 0.7%. ** Semiconductor and information technology shares led the decline, down 2.4% and 2%, respectively.

** Hangzhou Changchuan Techonology Co. and Sai Microelectronics Inc. lost 4.1% and 5%, respectively. ** At least eight China-listed gaming companies, including Perfect World Co, have announced share buyback plans worth as much as 780 million yuan ($109.17 million) in total to boost investor confidence and stabilise share prices across an industry shaken by new regulatory moves.

** Share prices of those companies mostly stabilised on Monday after sharp declines, with the CSI Anime Comic Game Index still down 1.1%. ** China's onshore shares are still searching for a bottom and may cross the inflection point around the Lunar New Year, analysts at Orient Securities said in a note on Tuesday.

($1 = 7.1449 Chinese yuan renminbi)