china shares: Chinese shares hit 3-month closing low on policy tightening concerns

BEIJING/SHANGHAI: Chinese shares fell on Wednesday to their lowest close in three months as risk appetite soured on concerns of policy tightening and escalating tensions between China and major western economies.

At the close, The blue-chip CSI300 index was down 1.61 per cent at 4,928.69, the lowest close since Dec. 11, while the Shanghai Composite index fell 1.3 per cent to 3,367.06, the weakest close since Dec. 24.

Leading the decline, the CSI300 resource index slumped 4.2 per cent, while the CSI300 transport index lost 4 per cent. The financial sector sub-index was lower by 1.2 per cent, while the real estate index fell 2.24 per cent.

The smaller Shenzhen index ended down 1.41 per cent and the start-up board ChiNext Composite index was weaker by 1.25 per cent.

Chinese shares have been fluctuating at the bottom for a while due to various of external factors but a rebound should come soon as companies are to report strong first-quarter earnings, said Zhang Yanbing, an analyst with Zheshang Securities.

China’s National Health Commission said that a total of 82.85 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines had been administered, as of Tuesday.

Around the region, MSCI’s Asia ex-Japan stock index was weaker by 1.21 per cent, while Japan’s Nikkei index closed down 2.04 per cent.

At 07:14 GMT, the yuan was quoted at 6.5237 per U.S. dollar, 0.12 per cent weaker than the previous close of 6.516. So far this year, the Shanghai stock index is down 3.1 per cent and the CSI300 has fallen 5.4 per cent, while China’s H-share index listed in Hong Kong is up 0.9 per cent. Shanghai stocks have declined 4.05 per cent this month.