SHANGHAI (Reuters) -China stocks fell on Wednesday, dragged by real estate shares, while Hong Kong shares rose, led by tech stocks.
Ratings agency Fitch revised its outlook on China to negative, citing increasing risks to the country's public finance outlook.
"So far the market reaction to the Fitch downgrade news seems to be quite muted, versus the Moody's (NYSE:MCO) downgrade back in last December. Nonetheless, it may still hurt near-term market sentiment on China while the confidence level is already low," Xiaojia Zhi, chief China economist at Credit Agricole (OTC:CRARY) CIB said.
Several property developers reported weakening sales in March, suggesting continued pressure for the sector and dragging real estate shares down.
Investors are awaiting a string of key economic data due this week and the next to gauge policy paths.
** The Shanghai Composite index retreated 0.7% at 3,027.33 points by market close, while the blue-chip CSI 300 index was down 0.8%.
** The financial sector sub-index was down 0.86%, and the real estate index slumped 3.99%.
** The smaller Shenzhen index ended down 1.74% and the start-up board ChiNext Composite index was weaker by 2.06%.
** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was firmer by 0.68%, while Japan's Nikkei index closed down 0.48%.
** At 0807 GMT, the yuan was quoted at 7.2329 per U.S. dollar, barely changed compared to the previous close of 7.2329.
** At the close of trade, the Hang Seng index was up 311.10 points or 1.85% at 17,139.17. The Hang Seng China Enterprises index rose 2.06% to 6,016.83.
** The sub-index of the Hang Seng tracking energy shares rose 1.9%, while the IT sector rose 2.96%, the financial sector ended 1.09% higher.