Foreigners Are Dumping Chinese Stocks Before Tariff Deadline

(Bloomberg) -- Foreign investors in Chinese equities aren’t hanging around to see how the latest round of trade talks plays out.

They’ve net sold an average 3.8 billion yuan ($558 million) of mainland shares a day through trading links with Hong Kong this week, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, on track for the heaviest week of selling since the Shenzhen connect opened in late 2016. The pullout extends a trend from April, which saw net sales of 18 billion yuan, a monthly record.

Trade concerns are weighing on markets again, with the U.S. poised to raise tariffs on Chinese goods on Friday. President Donald Trump said Chinese leaders “broke the deal” the two sides were negotiating. China, which is sending a delegation to Washington for more talks, warned it would retaliate if the U.S. increased levies.

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Overseas investors are selling some erstwhile favorites, including Kweichow Moutai Co. They dumped 4 billion yuan of the liquor maker’s shares in the first three days of the week, Bloomberg calculations show. Moutai slid 9.2% in that time, and a further 4.3% Thursday morning in Shanghai. Among others, Ping An Insurance Group Co. saw 550 million yuan of foreign outflows from Monday through Wednesday as its shares fell 8.5% in Shanghai. Both stocks are on the SSE 50 Index, which has slumped 8.4% this week.

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.