Shanghai stocks snapped a five-session rally to end lower on Thursday, as investors remained wary ahead of Washington's decision to proceed with new tariffs on Chinese goods this weekend.The blue-chip CSI300 index fell 0.3 per cent to close at 3,891.02, while the Shanghai Composite Index also shed 0.3 per cent to 2,915.70.US President Donald Trump is expected to meet with top trade advisers on Thursday to discuss planned Dec.
15 tariffs on some $160 billion in Chinese goods, three sources familiar with the plans said, as markets braced for potential negative impacts.A decision to move ahead with the tariffs could roil financial markets and scuttle US-China talks to end the 17-month-long trade war between the world's two largest economies for the remainder of Trump's term.There was muted reaction in the A-share market, after the US Fed kept interest rates unchanged as expected, at its policy meeting on Wednesday but indicated interest rates would remain on hold.Despite the broad weakness, foreigners continued to buy A-shares, with northbound inflows via the Stock Connect linking mainland and Hong Kong amounting to about 7.9 billion yuan ($1.12 billion) on the day.Foreign holdings of China's largest listed home appliances maker Midea Group Co is nearing an offshore ownership cap, as international investors increase exposure to the country's consumer sector which accounts for more than half of its economy.Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was firmer by 0.96 per cent while Japan's Nikkei index was up 0.14 per cent.The yuan was quoted at 7.0311 per US dollar, 0.11 per cent firmer than the previous close of 7.0386.So far this year, the Shanghai stock index is up 17.26 per cent, while China's H-share index is up 3.7 per cent.
Shanghai stocks have risen 1.83 per cent this month.About 15.18 billion shares traded on the Shanghai exchange on Thursday, roughly 104.5 per cent of the market's 30-day moving average of 14.53 billion.
The volume of shares traded in the previous session stood at 16.55 billion.As of 0701 GMT, China's A-shares were trading at a premium of 26.80 per cent over the Hong Kong-listed H-shares.