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SHANGHAI: Shares in China gave up ground on Thursday after two days of gains, as investor sentiment remained fragile following the latest volley of tariffs in the Sino-US trade war.
At the close, the Shanghai Composite index was down 0.1 per cent at 2,729.24 points.
The blue-chip CSI300 index ended down 0.1 per cent, with its financial sector sub-index closing 0.01 per cent weaker, the consumer staples sector ended 0.08 per cent higher, the real estate index closed down 0.43 per cent and healthcare sub-index ended 0.44 per cent lower.
The smaller Shenzhen index ended down 0.22 per cent and the start-up board ChiNext Composite index slipped 0.34 per cent.
Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index climbed 0.17 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei index closed 0.01 per cent higher.
Alibaba Chairman Jack Ma said the company can no longer meet its promise to create 1 million jobs in the United States due to US-China trade tensions, Chinese news agency Xinhua reported on Wednesday.
He also said the trade war could last for a long time.
China plans to reduce the average tariff rate on imports from most of its trading partners as early as October, Bloomberg reported, as it seeks to limit the effect of the trade war with the United States.
At 0714 GMT, the yuan was quoted at 6.8501 per US dollar, 0.01 per cent firmer than previous close of 6.8506.
The largest per centage gainers in the main Shanghai Composite index were Ningbo Heli Mould Technology Co Ltd, which ended up 10.03 per cent, followed by Guizhou Changzheng Tiancheng Holding Co Ltd, which closed 10.03 per cent firmer and Ningbo Tuopu Group Co Ltd, which ended 10.03 per cent higher.
The largest per centage losses in the Shanghai index were Pengxin International Mining Co Ltd, which closed down 10 per cent, followed by Sichuan Golden Summit Group Joint Stock Co Ltd, which ended 10 per cent weaker and Veken Technology Co Ltd, which closed down 7.24 per cent.
So far this year, the Shanghai stock index is down 17.5 per cent, the CSI300 plunged 17.9 per cent, while China's H-share index listed in Hong Kong is down 7.9 per cent.
Shanghai stocks rose 0.15 per cent this month.
About 11.14 billion shares were traded on the Shanghai exchange, roughly 100.9 per cent of the market's 30-day moving average of 11.04 billion shares a day.
The volume in the previous trading session was 14.16 billion.
As of 0715 GMT, China's A-shares were trading at a premium of 19.12 per cent over the Hong Kong-listed H-shares.
The Shanghai stock index is below its 50-day moving average and below the 200-day moving average.
The price-to-earnings ratio of the Shanghai index was 11.52, as of last full trading day, while the dividend yield was 2.8 per cent.
So far this week, the market capitalisation of the Shanghai stock index rose 1.84 per cent to 29.12 trillion yuan.
