Sector performances in China were mixed. Healthcare shares rose 2.5% while semiconductor stocks declined 2.1%. Sentiment of consumer staples and liquor shares slightly recovered, with shares up 0.3% and 0.7% respectively. (Reporting by Shanghai Newsroom; Editing by Sonia Cheema and Varun H K)
(Updates to midday break)
SHANGHAI, April 13 (Reuters) - Hong Kong stocks fell on
Thursday, as major shareholders of Alibaba and Tencent moved to
slash their holdings in the two Chinese tech giants, with
lingering geopolitical tensions keeping investor sentiment weak.
By the end of the morning session, the Hang Seng benchmark was down 0.5%, while China's blue-chip CSI 300 lost 0.4%.
The decline tracked global stocks that eased overnight,
after the markets were rattled by minutes from the U.S. Federal
Reserve's last policy meeting that indicated banking sector
stress could tip the economy into a recession.
Chinese shares, meanwhile, slipped even after China's
exports posted a surprise surge in March and beat market
expectations.
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd plunged as much as 5.2%
in early trade, as SoftBank Group Corp moved to sell
almost all of its remaining shares in the e-commerce giant, the
Financial Times reported, citing regulatory filings it had
analyzed.
Alibaba was the biggest drag weighing down the Hang Seng
benchmark .
Embattled property developer Sunac China , one of
many Chinese developers that defaulted last year, fell as much
as 60% as the stock resumed trade following a suspension of more
than a year.
Tencent Holdings Ltd , however, recovered some
losses by adding 0.6% after a 5.2% plunge in the previous
session, as Prosus NV said it may sell more shares in
the social media giant.
Taiwan said on Wednesday it had successfully urged China to
drastically narrow its plan to close air space north of the
island, averting wider travel disruption in a period of high
tension in the region due to China's military exercises.
Chinese outbound shipments rose 14.8% in March, snapping
five months of decline, while imports fell a
smaller-than-expected 1.4%, customs data showed on Thursday.
"The positive surprise may be partly due to a low base
effect – the COVID outbreaks in March last year forces many
factories to shut down," said Zhiwei Zhang, chief economist at
Pinpoint Asset Management.
"The strong export growth is unlikely to sustain given the
weak global macro outlook. China still needs to rely more on
domestic demand in the rest of the year," Zhang added.
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