China Market falls on fresh virus spike concerns

The China share market closed session lower on Monday, 29 June 2020, after a long holiday break for the Dragon Boat Festival, amid concerns about rising coronavirus cases globally and reports that the Phase 1 U.S.-China trade deal could be at risk.

At closing bell, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.61%, or 18.03 points, to 2,961.52. The Shenzhen Composite Index, which tracks stocks on China's second exchange, dropped 0.44%, or 8.60 points, to 1,939.12. The blue-chip CSI300 index slipped 0.71%, or 29.27 points, to 4,109.72. China's stock market was closed on Thursday and Friday for the Dragon Boat Festival.

Investors risk sentiments dampened as the global death toll from COVID-19 reached half a million people on Sunday as the number of infections crosses 10 million.

China's central bank said on Sunday the country's economic growth faces challenges from the pandemic despite signs of improvement amid business re-openings.

Securities shares led the decline on the mainland, following a media report that China plans to grant investment banking licenses to lenders, potentially intensifying competition.

CURRENCY NEWS: The yuan fell against the dollar on Monday, inline soft mid-point fixing by central bank. Prior to the market open, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) set the midpoint rate CNY=PBOC at 7.0789 per dollar, 0.02% softer than the previous fix of 7.0777. In the spot market, onshore yuan CNY=CFXS was changing hands at 7.0808, weaker by 0.36% than the previous late session close at 7.0555.

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