** China's blue-chip CSI300 Index was down 0.8% by the lunch break, after touching its lowest since early January in early trade. The Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.9%.
** Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng index and the
China Enterprises index both slumped 1.8%.
** Banking shares fell in China and Hong Kong, as fears of a
U.S. banking crisis knocked down Asian markets despite moves by
Washington to shore up confidence after the collapse of Silicon
Valley Bank. The S&P Banking Index slumped 7% overnight.
** Chinese financial shares slid 1.2% and bank
shares lost 0.7%.
** In Hong Kong, Hang Seng's finance subindex tumbled 2.6%, with HSBC Holdings down 5.1% and AIA
Group losing 3.7%.
** Market participants also digested news that Chinese President Xi Jinping is planning to travel to Russia to meet Vladimir Putin as soon as next week. Meanwhile, U.S. President Joe Biden said on Monday after unveiling a submarine deal to counter China that he expected to talk to Xi soon, but would not say when.
** Tech giants listed in Hong Kong fell 2.1%, with
Alibaba shedding 3.7% and Meituan down 2.8%.
** China's tourism stocks , airline shares and
hotel operators fell, even after news that China
would reopen its borders to foreign tourists by restoring the
issuance of all types of visas from Wednesday.
** China's growth will remain meagre as the economy is in a
process of "structural deceleration", said Alicia Garcia
Herrero, chief economist Asia Pacific at Natixis.
(Reporting by Shanghai Newsroom; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
