JULY 20, 202112:21 PM
By Reuters Staff
* SSEC -0.5%, CSI300 -0.51%, HSI -1.19%
* Chine leaves loan prime rate steady at July fixing
* Evergrande shares, bonds continue to slump
SHANGHAI, (Reuters) - China shares fell on Tuesday as investors adopted risk-off mode after Beijing kept a benchmark lending rate unchanged despite growing expectations for a cut, while developer Evergrande slumped after local authorities halted some of its sales.
At the midday break, the Shanghai Composite index was down 0.5% at 3,521.57 points.
China's blue-chip CSI300 index was down 0.51%, with its financial sector sub-index slipping 0.96%.
Policymakers kept the one-year loan prime rate (LPR) at 3.85%. The five-year LPR remained at 4.65%. The rate was unchanged for the 15th straight month, despite growing expectations for a cut after a surprise lowering of bank reserve requirements.
The real-estate index dropped 1.73% as concerns around Hong Kong-listed China Evergrande Group dented risk sentiment.
Sales in two Evergrande developments in a southern Chinese city have been halted by the authorities, government notices showed, adding pressure on the developer's cashflow that has raised concerns in the past few months.
Evergrande's shares plunged 14.37% in Hong Kong, and bond and share prices of related companies also tumbled.
Chinese H-shares listed in Hong Kong fell 1.47% to 9,811.8, while the Hang Seng Index was down 1.19% at 27,163.88.
The sub-index of the Hang Seng index tracking property firms fell 1%, energy companies slumped 3.6%, and the IT sector fell 1.3%.
The smaller Shenzhen index was down 0.38%, the start-up board ChiNext Composite index was weaker by 0.21%, and Shanghai's tech-focused

STAR

50 index was flat.
Around the region, MSCI 's Asia ex-Japan stock index was weaker by 0.95%, while Japan's Nikkei index was down 0.96%.
The yuan was quoted at 6.4881 per U.S. dollar, 0.04% firmer than the previous close of 6.4905. (Reporting by Shanghai Newsroom, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)

Sumber : Reuters