China shares were barely higher Friday after slumping a day earlier on the arrest of the chief financial officer of Chinese technology giant Huawei, which raised fears that a fragile temporary trade truce between the US and China could shatter.
At the midday break, the Shanghai Composite index was up 1.96 points or 0.08 per cent at 2,607.14. China's blue-chip CSI300 index was up 0.12 per cent, with its financial sector sub-index higher by 0.33 per cent, consumer staples sector up 0.02 per cent, real estate index up 1.1 per cent and healthcare sub-index down 3.83 per cent.
Shares in China's drugmakers extended losses, as investor worries deepen over the steep price cuts following bidding results in volume-based drug procurement negotiations. The CSI300 healthcare index is 3.8 per cent lower at midday.
President Donald Trump did not know about the plans to arrest a top executive at Chinese telecoms giant Huawei in Canada, two US officials had said on Thursday, in an apparent attempt to stop the incident from impeding crucial trade talks with Beijing.
Regional equity markets regained some footing on Friday after the Wall Street Journal reported that US Federal Reserve officials are considering whether to signal a new wait-and-see mentality after a likely December rate hike.
Chinese H-shares listed in Hong Kong fell 0.06 per cent to 10,474.2, while the Hang Seng Index was up 0.27 per cent at 26,226.79. The smaller Shenzhen index was up 0.12 per cent and the start-up board ChiNext Composite index was weaker by 0.23 per cent.
Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was firmer by 0.58 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei index was up 0.51 per cent. The yuan was quoted at 6.872 per US dollar, 0.15 per cent firmer than the previous close of 6.882.
Largest percentage gainers in the main Shanghai Composite index were Fujian Raynen Technology Co Ltd, up 10 per cent, followed by Eastern Communications Co Ltd, gaining 8.3 per cent and Hangzhou First Applied Material Co Ltd, up by 6.79 per cent. Largest percentage losses in the Shanghai index were FUREN Group Pharmaceutical Co Ltd, down 10 per cent, followed by Zhejiang Langdi Group Co Ltd, losing 9.99 per cent and Autobio Diagnostics Co Ltd, down by 8.94 per cent.
So far this year, the Shanghai stock index is down 21.23 per cent, while China's H-share index is down 10.5 per cent. Shanghai stocks have risen 0.66 per cent this month. Top gainers among H-shares were CITIC Ltd, up 3.02 per cent, followed by Tencent Holdings Ltd, gaining 2.89 per cent and China Vanke Co Ltd, up by 2.07 per cent.
The three biggest H-shares percentage decliners were Sinopharm Group Co Ltd, which has fallen 5.46 per cent, CSPC Pharmaceutical Group Ltd, which has lost 5.1 per cent and China Galaxy Securities Co Ltd, down by 3.1 per cent.
In Hong Kong, the sub-index of the Hang Seng index tracking energy shares dipped 0.8 per cent, while the IT sector rose 1.6 per cent. The top gainer on the Hang Seng was Hang Lung Properties Ltd, up 3.53 per cent, while the biggest loser was Sino Biopharmaceutical Ltd, which was down 11.13 per cent.