China and Hong Kong stocks slid on Friday after trade talks between Washington and Beijing ended without any progress. The CSI300 index dropped 0.4 per cent to 3,306.65 points, while the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.4 per cent, to 2,714.98 points.
The Hang Seng index slipped 0.7 per cent to 27,599.46 points, while the Hong Kong China Enterprises Index dipped 0.5 per cent to 10,759.25 points.
US and Chinese officials had ended two days of talks on Thursday without any progress. Meanwhile their trade war escalated with activation of another round of duelling tariffs on $16 billion worth of each country's goods.
However, US fund investors apparently saw a buying opportunity in China despite ongoing trade tensions, adding their most exposure to that market since January, Lipper data for the latest week showed on Thursday.
Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was weaker by 0.40 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei index rose 0.65 per cent. The yuan was quoted at 6.8882 per US dollar, 0.19 per cent weaker than the previous close of 6.8749.
The largest percentage gainers in the main Shanghai Composite index were Shenzhen Kingdom SCI-Tech Co Ltd, which rose 10.02 per cent, followed by Anhui Great Wall Military Industry Co Ltd, which gained 10.01 per cent and Zhejiang Tiancheng Controls Co Ltd, which climbed 10.01 per cent.
The largest percentage losses in the Shanghai index were Gansu Gangtai Holding Group Co Ltd, which fell 10.07 per cent, followed by Xinjiang Korla Pear Co Ltd, which lost 10.02 per cent and Hangzhou XZB Tech Co Ltd, which slipped 10.01 per cent.
The top gainers among H-shares were CNOOC Ltd up 4.52 per cent, followed by Guangdong Investment Ltd gaining 1.78 per cent and Hengan International Group Company Ltd up by 1.42 per cent.
The three biggest H-shares percentage decliners were CGN Power Co Ltd, which dropped 3.66 per cent, Shenzhou International Group Holdings Ltd, which lost 3.3 per cent and CRRC Corp Ltd, which was down 2.4 per cent.
About 5.08 billion shares have traded so far on the Shanghai exchange, roughly 37.9 percent of the market's 30-day moving average of 13.41 billion shares a day. The volume traded was 9.84 billion, as of the last full trading day.
As of 0403 GMT, China's A-shares were trading at a premium of 16.54 per cent over the Hong Kong-listed H-shares. The Shanghai stock index is below its 50-day moving average and below its 200-day moving average.
The price-to-earnings ratio of the Shanghai index was 11.79 as of the 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 climbed 2.19 per cent to 28.97 trillion yuan.