SHANGHAI: Shanghai stocks recovered from early losses to end steady on Thursday on hopes Beijing will roll out further measures to bolster the economy amid a bruising trade war with Washington.The blue-chip CSI 300 index ended a tick down at 3,685.39, while the Shanghai Composite Index closed flat at 2,910.74 points.Chinese regulators should step up support for the economy and keep ample liquidity in the financial system, Vice Premier Liu He said on Thursday, suggesting Beijing would soon unveil more policies to bolster growth amid rising US trade pressure.Beijing has plenty of policy tools and is capable of dealing with various challenges, Liu said at a financial forum in Shanghai.Liu's comments came amid lingering worries over the Sino-US trade tensions, which put China's economy under pressure.US President Donald Trump declined to set a deadline on Wednesday for levying tariffs on another $325 billion of Chinese goods and called the relationship with Beijing good but "testy" after China walked back commitments for a trade deal.Chinese banks doled out more loans in May to support the slowing economy hurt by a trade war with the United States, with further policy easing likely even amid accelerating consumer inflation.In an effort to bolster the country's tech strength amid trade war, China on Thursday officially launched Shanghai's Nasdaq-style tech board.The picture is mixed for now, as Beijing stepped up support for the economy via financial and monetary policies, though the murky outlook for the Sino-US trade dispute weighed on the market, Donghai Securities noted in report.Overall, the A-share market could turn relatively strong, the brokerage added.Around the region, MSCI 's Asia ex-Japan stock index was weaker by 0.58 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei index closed down 0.46 per cent.At 0716 GMT, the yuan was quoted at 6.9196 per US dollar, 0.01 per cent weaker than the previous close of 6.9188.So far this year, the Shanghai stock index is up 16.7 per cent and the CSI 300 rose 22.4 per cent, while China's H-share index listed in Hong Kong is up 2.9 per cent. Shanghai stocks climbed 0.42 per cent so far this month.As of 0717 GMT, China's A-shares were trading at a premium of 27.16 per cent over the Hong Kong-listed H-shares.

Source: Economic Times June 13, 2019 07:55 UTC