China stocks weaken as liquor distillers pace decline while online-gaming stocks halt losses on big batch of game approvals
The Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.5 per cent to 2,903.33 at 10.25am to near the lowest since October last year. The CSI 300 Index of the nation’s biggest companies dropped 0.7 per cent. Hong Kong’s financial markets are closed for a holiday.
Top liquor distiller Kweichow Moutai lost 0.7 per cent to 1,660.01 yuan while peer Shanxi Xinghuacun Fen Wine Factory fell 0.8 per cent to 224.85 yuan. Advanced Micro-Fabrication lost 0.4 per cent to 150 yuan and Suzhou Novosense Microelectronics lost 2.8 per cent to 160.46 yuan.
Some video-gaming stocks rebounded, halting a two-day rout sparked by new proposed measures to curb excessive spending and addiction. China approved 105 games in December, the most since July last year. 37Games added 0.3 per cent to 19.02 yuan while G-bits Network Technology jumped 2.5 per cent to 237.46 yuan.
The Shanghai Composite has lost nearly 6 per cent this year and was headed for a second straight year of decline. The CSI 300 has dropped 14 per cent, adding to a 22 percent plunge in 2022 and a 5.2 percent retreat in 2021, an unprecedented streak of annual losses.
Elsewhere, Chongqing Polycomp International surged 167 per cent to 7.12 yuan per share on its first day of trading in Shenzhen.
Major Asian markets are closed for the Christmas holiday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was little changed, while Taiwan’s Taiex Index rose 0.5 per cent.
