HONG KONG: Chinese stocks edged lower on Thursday as expectations of policy support failed to offset persisting worries over economic growth.The Shanghai Composite index ended nearly flat at 2,464.36, while the blue-chip CSI300 index fell 0.2 percent.The People’s Bank of China said on Wednesday evening it had relaxed its conditions on targeted reserve requirement cuts to benefit more small firms. ”Some in the market have said that there might be as much as 5 trillion yuan of tax cuts over the next five years,” he said.Most of CSI300’s sub-indexes were down. The IT sector lost 1.3 percent, telecom shares slid 2.8 percent, while consumer staples dropped 1.8 percent and healthcare shed 2.8 percent. This could foreshadow a rebound in A-shares in the coming months. The volume traded was 10.99 billion as of the last full trading day.

Source: The Star January 03, 2019 07:41 UTC