China Stocks fall after anti-trust probe into Alibaba

The Mainland China share market finished session lower on Thursday, 24 December 2020, as investor sentiment grappled by risk-off environment amid persisting concerns over Sino-U.S. trade tensions, with tech shares led losses after Beijing launched an anti-trust probe into Alibaba Group.

At closing bell, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.57%, or 19.21 points, to 3,363.11. The Shenzhen Composite Index, which tracks stocks on China's second exchange, dropped 1.13%, or 25.70 points, to 2,255.55. The blue-chip CSI300 index declined 0.14%, or 7.10 points, to 5,000.02.

China's State Administration for Market Regulation said that it has opened an investigation into Alibaba over monopolistic practices. Chinese authorities also said Thursday they would meet with Alibaba-affiliate Ant to supervise the financial technology firm on issues such as operating in a market-oriented way. Those developments came on the heels of an increasing and largely unexpected push by Chinese authorities to rein in their biggest tech firms through regulatory action.

CURRENCY NEWS: China's yuan appreciated against the dollar as the central bank set a firmer midpoint. Prior to market open, the People's Bank of China set the midpoint rate CNY=PBOC at 6.5361 per dollar, 197 pips firmer than the previous fix of 6.5558. The spot market CNY=CFXS opened at 6.5350 per dollar and was changing hands at 6.5298 at midday, 102 pips firmer than the previous late session close.

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