** China's blue-chip CSI 300 Index dropped 0.44%, while the Shanghai Composite Index was down 0.49%.
** Hang Seng Index dipped 0.07% and Hang Seng China Enterprises Index declined 0.59%.
** Asian equities jumped, while the dollar was on the
backfoot after less hawkish than feared comments from Federal
Reserve Chair Jerome Powell lifted sentiment and fuelled
investor hopes the central bank may soon ease monetary policy.
** U.S. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said
relations with China were strained and the Joe Biden
administration is looking at other actions it can take after
shooting down what it called a Chinese surveillance balloon over
the weekend.
** Meanwhile, China declined a U.S. request for a phone call
between defense chiefs, a Pentagon spokesperson said on Tuesday.
** China markets lost steam in February after a rapid rally
last month. "Market focus is switching from policy change to
substantial improvement of fundamentals," CICC analysts wrote in
a note.
** Valuations of CSI 300 still have room to grow, but there is some short-term profit-taking pressure, they added. CSI 300 jumped 5.8% this year.
** Tao Wang, head of China economic research at UBS
Investment Bank said in a note that Chinese households excess
savings may not be released completely and very fast in 2023.
** "Some households may need to continue saving more for
longer to restore their balance sheets that were damaged by the
economic weakness and property downturn previously," she said.
** Media and semiconductor stocks
dropped 2.1% and 1.2% respectively, while real estate companies were up 0.4%
** In Hong Kong, food delivery giant Meituan plunged 6.5% to a two-month low after TikTok's Chinese version
Douyin is reportedly plans to offer its food delivery service in
more Chinese cities, raising worries on intensified competition.
** Baidu retreated 3.1% after a 15% jump on
Tuesday as it plans March launch of their ChatGPT-like AI
chatbot called Ernie Bot.
(Reporting by Summer Zhen; editing by Uttaresh.V)
