China stocks inch lower as investors await more support measures

HONG KONG, Nov 22 – China stocks slid and Hong Kong shares were little changed on Wednesday as market participants awaited more stimulus for the Chinese economy as it struggles to get back on solid footing.

Markets also fell after Wall Street closed lower overnight after Federal Reserve minutes showed that officials agreed to take a cautious approach to raising rates going forward.

** The blue-chip CSI 300 Index retreated 1%, while the Shanghai Composite Index edged down 0.8%.

** Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index and the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index were largely flat.

** Chinese government advisers will recommend economic growth targets for 2024 ranging from 4.5% to 5.5% to an annual policymakers’ meeting as Beijing seeks to create jobs and keep long-term development goals on track, Reuters reported.

** Reaching such targets would require Beijing to step up fiscal stimulus, the advisers said.

** All eyes are on China’s incremental policy support in the coming months to strengthen recovery momentum into 2024.

** Yan Wang, chief China strategist at Alpine Macro, said there was no sign of meaningful sequential improvement in China’s macro economic numbers yet.

** “While the Xi-Biden summit may cool off the geopolitical tension, domestic policies still hold the key to China’s economic performance,” he said in a note, referring to last week’s leaders summit.

** Hong Kong shares of Baidu Inc jumped 4.5% to hit a five-week peak after the company beat expectations for its third-quarter earnings.

** The wider Hang Seng Tech Index dropped 0.2%.

** In China A-shares, new energy stocks fell 2.2% to lead the decline.

** Meanwhile, China’s yuan held steady against the dollar as the country’s central bank continued to lend support via a strong midpoint fixing.

(Reporting by Summer Zhen; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)