** China's blue-chip CSI 300 was down 0.1% at the lunch break, while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.2%.
** Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index climbed 1.2%, and the China Enterprises Index added 1.3%.
** China and Hong Kong energy indexes soared, tracking rising oil prices globally, after industry executives flagged concerns over oil supplies while demand from China is recovering as the economy recovers.
** China will strive to achieve full-year economic targets
and push forward high-quality development, state media reported
on Monday, citing Li Qiang, a Chinese Communist Party Politburo
Standing Committee member.
** China's exports in the January-February period again fell
from a year earlier, customs data showed on Tuesday, while
imports also decreased again and at a faster rate, reflecting a
slowdown in the global economy and weak domestic demand.
** The CSI Energy index was up 2.6%, with CNOOC rising 8.0%, China Petroleum & Chemical 5.3% and PetroChina 3.8%.
** Meanwhile, shares of Chinese banks rose
1.4%. The rise in energy and financial stocks also came after
the general manager of the Shanghai Stock Exchange called for an
upward revaluation of central state-owned enterprises on Monday.
Major energy and financial companies in China are predominantly
state-owned.
** A similar trend was spotted in the Hong Kong market. Hang
Seng's Hong Kong Energy index soared 4.3%, and
financials index gained 1.6%.
** Tech giants in Hong Kong gained 0.4%, with
Alibaba adding 3.6%. But Meituan lost 1.3%.
** Globally, investors are awaiting congressional testimony
from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell starting later in the
day for clues on the central bank's next move on interest rates.
(Reporting by Shanghai Newsroom; Editing by Bradley Perrett)
