China shares fall; Fed rate cut bets buoy Hong Kong stocks
SHANGHAI, July 4 (Reuters) -Mainland China stocks edged lower on Thursday, dragged by property shares. Meanwhile, Hong Kong shares inched higher after a slew of softer U.S. economic data raised investor bets on Federal Reserve interest rate cuts later this year.
** Softer-than-expected U.S. economic data on Wednesday, including a weak services report and ADP employment report, pointed to a slowdown in the world's largest economy, following an increase in initial applications for unemployment benefits last week.
** At the midday break, the Shanghai Composite index .SSEC was down 0.43% at 2,969.45 points.
** China's blue-chip CSI300 index .CSI300 was down 0.2% at 3,456.32 points, with property shares leading the losses. A sub-index tracking the real estate sector .CSI000952 shed 2.33% as of the midday break.
** "We believe the market still has scope to outperform with continued government policy support and increasing focus on capital returns through dividends and buybacks," Sunil Tirumalai, chief GEM equity strategist at UBS, said in a note.
** "Geopolitics need to be monitored, especially in the run-up to the U.S. elections in November 2024," he said, adding they continued to have an "overweight" rating on Chinese stocks.
** Chinese H-shares listed in Hong Kong .HSCE rose 0.03% to 6,457.56 points, while the Hang Seng Index .HSI was up 0.05% at 17,988.25 points.
** The smaller Shenzhen index .SZSC was down 0.86%, the start-up board ChiNext Composite index .CNT was weaker by 0.22% and Shanghai's tech-focused STAR50 index .STAR50 was down 0.97%.
** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index .MIAPJ0000PUS was firmer by 0.92% while Japan's Nikkei index .N225 was up 0.78%.
** The yuan CNY=CFXS was quoted at 7.2713 per U.S. dollar, 0.02% weaker than the previous close of 7.2699.
Reporting by Shanghai Newsroom; Editing by Eileen Soreng
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