China Stocks down on trade tension

The Mainland China equity market were lower in volatile trade on Friday, 07 September 2018, as investors fretted about the possible imposition of new US tariffs on imported goods from China, which could come by end of this week. However, market losses were limited as investors chased for beaten down shares after securities regulator has released draft revisions of company rules that it said were aimed at expediting share buybacks by listed companies. Around afternoon trade, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.13%, or 3.46 points, to 2,688.13, while the Shenzhen Composite Index, which tracks stocks on China's second exchange, fell 0.27%, or 3.85 points, to 1,428.02. The blue-chip CSI300 index declined 0.14%, or 4.45 points, to 3,258.43.

Investors were fretted about a possible escalation in the U.S.-China trade war later in the day, with President Donald Trump reportedly saying over the weekend that he is ready to impose tariffs on an additional $200 billion worth of Chinese imports as soon as the public comment period ends on Thursday.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission said the proposed rule revision would broaden the circumstances under which companies are able to buy back shares, and would simplify the procedure for these buybacks. The draft rules were published for public comments at a time when China's stock market has taken a hammering amid concerns over economic slowdown and the escalating Sino-U.S. trade tensions.

CURRENCY NEWS: China's yuan strengthened against the U.S. dollar on Friday, inline with stronger mid-point fixing by People Bank of China. Prior to market opening, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) set the midpoint rate at 6.8212 per dollar, strengthened by 5 basis points.

OFFSHORE MARKET NEWS, US stock market closed softer for a third session on Thursday, on mounting concerns about contagion from a handful of struggling emerging economies on top of unresolved trade tension. The Dow Jones Industrial Average inched up 20.88 points or 0.1% to 25,995.87, the Nasdaq slumped 72.45 points or 0.9% to 7,922.73 and the S&P 500 fell 10.55 points or 0.4% at 2,878.05.

The major European stock markets ended down on Thursday. The French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.3%, the German DAX Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slid by 0.7% and 0.9%, respectively.

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