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China and Hong Kong shares reversed earlier gains to slide on Thursday, as concerns over a trade spat between China and the United States weighed on sentiment.
The CSI300 index fell 0.1 per cent to 3,632.75 points at the end of the morning session, while the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.2 per cent to 2,909.81 points. The Hang Seng index dropped 0.6 per cent, to 29,508.79 points, and the Hong Kong China Enterprises Index lost 0.5 per cent to 11,443.10 points.
Both mainland and Hong Kong markets found some solace after Beijing said it will use targeted cuts in banks' reserve requirement ratios (RRR) and other policy tools to boost credit support for small firms and keep economic growth steady.
However, the sentiment was still dampened amid lingering worries over a potential full-blown trade war between China and the United States. China's commerce ministry on Thursday accused the United States of being temperamental over bilateral trade issues, and warned that the interests of US workers and farmers ultimately will be hurt.
On the mainland, losses were led by tech firms, with the tech-heavy ChiNextp board index losing 1.5 per cent, hovering near its lowest level since early 2015. Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was weaker by 0.16 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei index was up 0.66 per cent.
The yuan was quoted at 6.4906 per US dollar, 0.24 per cent weaker than the previous close of 6.475. The largest percentage gainers in the main Shanghai Composite index were Nanjing Inform Storage Equipment Group Co Ltd up 10.02 per cent, followed by Xining Special Steel Co Ltd gaining 9.98 per cent and Henan Yinge Industrial Investment Co Ltd up by 9.92 per cent.
The largest percentage losses in the Shanghai index were Ningbo Bird Co Ltd down 10.11 per cent, followed by Guangzhou Yuetai Group Co Ltd losing 10.04 per cent and Jiangsu Xinri E-Vehicle Co Ltd down by 10.02 per cent.
The top gainers among H-shares were Anhui Conch Cement Co Ltd up 3.06 per cent, followed by China Shenhua Energy Co Ltd gaining 2.69 per cent and China Gas Holdings Ltd up by 2.4 per cent.
The three biggest H-shares percentage decliners were CNOOC Ltd which has fallen 3.27 per cent, CITIC Securities Co Ltd which has lost 3.1 per cent and New China Life Insurance Co Ltd down by 2.2 per cent.
About 8.71 billion shares have traded so far on the Shanghai exchange, roughly 65.0 per cent of the market's 30-day moving average of 13.41 billion shares a day. The volume traded was 14.43 billion as of the last full trading day.
As of 04:02 GMT, China's A-shares were trading at a premium of 21.27 per cent over the Hong Kong-listed H-shares. The Shanghai stock index is below its 50-day moving average and below its 200-day moving average.
The price-to-earnings ratio of the Shanghai index was 12.67 as of the last full trading day while the dividend yield was 2.7 per cent. So far this week, the market capitalisation of the Shanghai stock index has fallen 3.51 per cent to 30.21 trillion yuan.
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