China, Hong Kong Tariff Shares Flat while waiting for clarity

Shares of China and Hong Kong were flat on Tuesday, as investors were waiting for further clarification on the situation of the trade after the Trump administration imposed probes in the semiconductor imports.

** China’s Blue-Chip CSI 300 index less than 0.1% and the Shanghai Composite Index added 0.2% nearby, after trading both in the tight range during the day.

** Hong Kong Benchmark Hang Seng rose 0.3% after swinging between benefits and loss during the morning session.

** US The Donald Trump administration has increased the probes in the import of semiconductors on national security grounds after exempting some Chinese tech products from extremely tariffs, which will soon be subject to a new set of duties.

** The uncertainty of the current trade weighs on chip stocks for both onshore and SH Fashore markets. The CSI semiconductor industry index slid 1.2% and the electronics subindex lost 1.1%, both left most of the benefits made on Monday.

** In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Tech Index was down 0.7%, with chip maker Smic 4.5% and peer Hua Hong Semiconductor 3.2%.

** “US-China tariff situation is very fluid, changes by about an hour,” Alpine Macro’s chief emerging markets and China strategist Yan Wang said in a note.

** In the near term, uncertainty is still high, so Chinese stocks do not guarantee an aggressive risk, he said.

** Helping SET in the mainland market, the CSI banks index increased by 1.5% and the customer staple sector increased by 0.3%.