China Stocks follow global markets lower

Headline indices of the Mainland China equity market closed down on Monday, 25 March 2019, as sentiment for equities soured on tracking negative cues from the US and European equities on Friday amid growing concerns of a slowdown in the global economy fuelled by downbeat economic data from the US and Europe, and a cautious tone from the Federal Reserve. Meanwhile, selloff pressure mounted on caution ahead of fresh U.S.-China trade talks later this week. At closing bell, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index dropped 1.97%, or 61.12 points, to 3,043.03. The Shenzhen Composite Index, which tracks stocks on China's second exchange, shed 1.44%, or 24.52 points, to 1,676.43. The blue-chip CSI300 index sank 2.37%, or 90.97 points, to 3,742.83.

Stocks around the world were under pressure as investors fled to the safety of bonds after cautious remarks by the U.S. Federal Reserve last week on cooling economy and growing concern about the outlook for the global economy, sparked by soft PMI data from the Eurozone and United States in March that sent the 10-year treasury yields below the three-month rate for the first time since 2007 embedding interest rate curve inversion. Traditionally, an inverted yield curve - where long-term rates fall below short-term - has signalled an impending recession. .

 

On US-China trade front, A U.S. trade delegation headed by Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin will visit China on March 28-29 for the next round of negotiations aimed at resolving the trade war, while a Chinese delegation led by Vice Premier Liu He will visit Washington next week, the White House said on Saturday.

Negotiations had been on hold as the two sides tried to figure out how to overcome disagreements about how the United States would ensure China is abiding by any deal. US concerns about how China goes about getting hold of American technology and trade secrets have also been a sticking point.

CURRENCY NEWS: China's yuan softened against the U.S. dollar on Monday, on weaker mid-point fixing by central bank and as some corporate clients sold the U.S unit ahead of the latest round of U.S.-China trade talks. Prior to market opening, the People's Bank of China set the midpoint rate at 6.7098, weaker by 0.23% than the previous fix of 6.6944.

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