** China's blue-chip CSI300 Index lost 0.56%,
while the Shanghai Composite Index edged down 0.25%.
** The Hang Seng Index was flat, while the Hang Seng
China Enterprises Index dropped 0.65%.
** Wider Asian share markets followed Wall Street into the
red as surprising strength in global surveys of services stoked
fears that central banks would have to lift interest rates yet
further and keep them up for longer.
** U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir
Putin have been sparring verbally, presenting starkly different
views of the world and the Ukraine war — Biden promising to
defend democracies and Putin asserting the West was a threat to
Russia.
** China's top diplomat told one of Putin's closest allies
on Tuesday Beijing's relationship with Moscow was "rock solid".
Meanwhile, Chinese leader Xi Jinping is preparing to visit
Moscow for a summit with Putin in the coming months, the Wall
Street Journal reported on Tuesday.
** In Hong Kong, Financial Secretary Paul Chan on Wednesday
said the city's economy is expected to rebound 3.5%-5.5% this
year after shrinking 3.5% in 2022.
** Timothy Moe, chief Asia-Pacific equity strategist at
Goldman Sachs maintains a positive view on Chinese equities,
highlighting the stocks are still trading 40-45% below the peak
in early 2021.
** "The valuation is about 10.8 times earnings, which has come back to levels that are certainly much more reasonable and affordable," Moe told a media briefing Wednesday.
** He also expects China A-shares have the lowest correlation to U.S. equity weakness within Asia.
** Wang Ying, stock index futures analyst at Nanhua Futures, shares the view, saying although main risk may come from geopolitical tensions, "There is no base for China A-shares to experience a big retreat in the short term."
** Telecom stocks lost momentum, falling 1.9% to lead the decline.
** Tech giants listed in Hong Kong extended
weakness, went down 0.9%.
(Reporting by Summer Zhen; editing by Uttaresh.V)
