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Chinese stocks slipped on Tuesday as trading was quiet with many investors shifting attention to year-end and a holiday week-end.
Traders said investors were still bargain-shopping among blue-chips and selling small caps.
The CSI300 index was flat at 3,454.23 points at the end of the morning session, while the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.4 per cent to 3,155.28 points.
Barring a last-minute crash, Shanghai is set to be the world’s best performing major exchange in 2014, up over 50 per cent for the year. Argentina’s Merval index has gained about 57 per cent, but it is far smaller.
On Tuesday, China CSI300 stock index futures for January rose 0.2 per cent to 3,476.2, which is 21.97 points above the current value of the underlying index.
Guosen Securities Co Ltd’s shares opened 10 per cent higher at 9.24 yuan on Tuesday, rising by the daily maximum amount for the second consecutive day after the brokerage debuted on the Shenzhen stock exchange on Monday.
Green carmaker BYD Co Ltd shares rose 5.8 per cent in Shenzhen after Shenzhen released supportive policy for electric cars; its Hong Kong shares rose 2.67 per cent.
HK stocks underperform
Hong Kong stocks underperformed those in the mainland, as they generally have since protests began in the city in September. Even though Chinese firms are index heavyweights in Hong Kong, indexes there have nevertheless exhibited a malaise that contrasts sharply with their mainland peers
“Occupy Central has brought negative effects (to the equity market); some investors are worrying whether it will happen again,’’ said Andy Wong, senior investment analyst at Harris Fraser in Hong Kong.
The index measuring price differences between dual-listed companies in Shanghai and Hong Kong stood at 126.33. A value above 100 indicates Shanghai shares are pricing at a premium to shares in the same company trading in Hong Kong.
Wong added that Hong Kong investors have also been reacting to events in other markets, including Greece. The open nature of Hong Kong's financial markets makes them particularly sensitive to global liquidity conditions, whereas Chinese markets are more inward-looking.
The Hang Seng index dropped 0.9 per cent to 23,551.23 points; it is down over 6 per cent since its slide set off in September.
The Hong Kong China Enterprises Index lost 1.3 percent, to 11,863.15.
Total volume of A shares traded in Shanghai was 22.57 billion shares, while Shenzhen volume was 9.29 billion shares. Trading volume of companies included in the HSI index was 0.9 billion shares.
Chinese stock markets will close on January 1-2 and reopen on January 5. Hong Kong markets will be open on January 2.
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