** China's blue-chip CSI300 Index was flat at the end of the morning session, while the Shanghai Composite Index edged up 0.1%.
** Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng Index lost 1%, and the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index dropped 1.2%.
** Other Asian stocks edged lower on prospects of the U.S. central bank having to stay on its hawkish path, with investors eyeing the minutes of the latest Federal Reserve meeting for further policy clues.
** China's top diplomat Wang Yi, who is to visit Russia this week on the one-year anniversary of its invasion of Ukraine, called on Monday for negotiations and peace for the sake of the world and Europe in particular.
** Meanwhile, U.S. President Joe Biden walked around central
Kyiv on an unannounced visit on Monday, promising to stand with
Ukraine as long as it takes.
** Among individual stocks and sectors, tech giants listed
in Hong Kong slumped 2.5% to lead the decline.
** A recent underperformance of Chinese equities appears to
reflect scepticism about the likely strength of China's
recovery, Goldman Sachs analysts said in a note.
** "Despite these signs of unease among investors, we
continue to expect a robust recovery in China's economy and
further gains in markets in coming months," they said, adding
that high-frequency data are recovering even faster than they
would have expected.
** Chinese real estate developers rose 0.3%
after the country launched a pilot scheme to boost private
investment in the property sector. Non-ferrous metal added 1.5% on hopes of Chinese demand boost.
** The Hang Seng Mainland Properties Index added
1%.
(Reporting by Shanghai Newsroom; editing by Uttaresh.V)
