Sep 4, 2024 at 8:34 am GMT
Updates to market close
HONG KONG/SHANGHAI, Sept 4 (Reuters) -China stocks closed at seven-month lows on Wednesday, while Hong Kong shares dropped more than 1%, tracking declines in Asian markets as a sharp tech sell-off on Wall Street overnight and a slump in oil prices hit sentiment.
Risk appetite was also curbed by China's slowdown in services sector activities and elevated trade frictions between China and Canada.
China's blue-chip CSI 300 .CSI300 ended down 0.7% at its lowest level since early February. The Shanghai Composite Index . SSEC dipped 0.7%. Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng Index .HSI lost 1.1%.
Tech shares fell in both markets, after shares of artificial intelligence heavyweight Nvidia NVDA .O tumbled 9.5% overnight. U.S. stock benchmarks registered their biggest daily drop since early August. .N
"Hong Kong is pretty weak, so whenever we see a negative signal like that from the U.S., Hong Kong will be performing even worse," said Steven Leung, executive director - institutional sales, UOB Kay Hian.
Leung said unlike the correction in August, which was affected by the unwinding of the yen carry trade, the main driver of the market weakness this time was concerns over the strength of the U.S. economy.
"It's more scary, because it's not a technical reason, it's a more fundamental issue."
Investors are also fretting over the Chinese economy, after a private survey showed growth in the services sector activity slowed in August despite the summer travel peak.
Energy shares in both Shanghai and Hong Kong led declines, as oil prices extended losses.
An index tracking Hong Kong-listed energy shares .HSCIE slumped 4.5%, while China's CSI energy index .CSIEN dropped 2.2%.
Shares of oil giants CNOOC 0883.HK, 600938.SS and PetroChina 0857.HK 601857.SS slumped more than 5% in both markets.
China's CSI 5G Communication Index .CSI931079 fell 1.5%, while Hong Kong's tech index .HSTECH slipped 0.4%.
China's start-up board ChiNext Composite index .CNT reversed gains from the morning session to end flat.
 Reporting by Summer Zhen in Hong Kong, Tom Westbrook in Singapore and Li Gu in Shanghai; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Jamie Freed 

Sumber : Reuters