China Stocks mixed as investors eye trade spat

Headline stocks of the Mainland China equity market were mixed on Tuesday, 10 December 2019, as investors remained anxious ahead of a Dec. 15 deadline for more U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods. Around late afternoon, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index edged up 0.03%, or 1 points, to 2,915.47. The Shenzhen Composite Index, which tracks stocks on China's second exchange, was up 0.2%, or 3.06 points, to 1,643.57. The blue-chip CSI300 index was marginally up by 0.01%, or 0.38 point, to 3,895.83.

National Bureau of Statistics data released on Tuesday showed China's Consumer Price Index for November jumped 4.5% from a year ago as food prices surged amid an outbreak of African swine fever that devastated pig herds and fueled demand for protein sources. On the other hand, producer prices in China declined in the same month, with the Producer Price Index (PPI) for November falling 1.4% year-on-year.

Investors remained cautious amid uncertainties surrounding an initial trade deal between the United States and China. Both sides have less than 5 days to go before Washington is poised to impose even more tariffs on Chinese goods. Tariffs on another $156 billion in Chinese goods are set to go into effect on Dec. 15.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that the United States is doing well with China in hammering out an agreement, though such comments have come and gone in the past two months with no clarity on when a highly anticipated preliminary deal would be in place. Data from the General Administration of Customs showed on Sunday that China's exports were down by 1.1% in the last month of the year, after a drop of 0.9% in October, with those to the U.S. tumbling 23% in November.

The market broadly believes the United States will delay or cancel the tariffs but lingering uncertainty over that outcome could keep stock buying in check. The U.S. and China have imposed tariffs on billions of dollars' worth of one another's goods since the start of 2018, battering financial markets and souring business and consumer sentiment.

Pork stocks declined broadly after a surge in pork prices accelerated China's consumer inflation in November. An outbreak of African swine flu has swept across China and sent pork prices soaring. Muyuan Foodstuff (002714 SZ), one of the largest pork producers in China, fell by 5.8% to 83.57 yuan, amid worries over its future output. Wens Foodstuff Group (300498 SZ), the industry's largest player, dropped 4.7%, while Tangrenshen Group (002567 SZ) fell 4%.

CURRENCY NEWS: China's yuan was little changed against the dollar after the People's Bank of China (PBOC) set tad higher mid-point fixing and as investor caution about developments in the Sino-U.S. trade dispute. Prior to the open, the People's Bank of China set the midpoint rate CNY=PBOC at 7.0405 per dollar, 0.01% up than the previous fix of 7.0405. In the spot market, onshore yuan CNY=CFXS was changing hands at 7.038, up by 0.02% than the previous late session close at 7.0395.

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