Chinese stocks fell on Friday as shares of Apple suppliers weakened after a U.S. court reinstated President Donald Trump's tariffs, while automakers extended losses amid ongoing price war concerns.
** China's blue-chip CSI 300 index SZSE:399300 closed 0.5% lower and registered its second week of loss. The Shanghai Composite index SSE:000001 also dropped 0.5% to 3,347.49 points.
** The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index HSI:HSCEI fell 1.5% and Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng Index HSI:HSI lost 1.2%. Both the indexes snapped their six-week winning streaks.
** "Sentiment dropped further amid lower turnover and lukewarm macro prints," Laura Wang, Chief China Equity Strategist at Morgan Stanley wrote in a note on Friday.
** "No signs of near-term stimulus step-up as the interim tariff truce continues."
** A federal appeals court on Thursday temporarily reinstated the most sweeping of U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs, a day after a trade court blocked them, saying the president exceeded his authority.
** The CSI Consumer Electronics Thematic Index (.CSI931494) lost 2%. Apple iPhone assembler Foxconn SSE:601138 lost 3.9%, BYD Electronics HKEX:285 tumbled 6% and Lens Tech SZSE:300433 weakened 3.4%.
** Auto shares continued their downward trend as price war concerns lingered. Shares of Xpeng HKEX:9868, BYD SZSE:002594 and Nio NYSE:NIO slipped by 3.3% to 5%.
** Cushioning the losses, the CSI Banks Index (.CSI399986) advanced 0.6% after news that People's Bank of China (PBOC)Governor Pan Gongsheng will attend the opening ceremony of the Lujiazui Forum in Shanghai next month and announce several major financial policies.
** Mainland China's stock, bond, foreign exchange and commodity futures markets will be closed on Monday, June 2, for the Dragon Boat holiday. They will resume trade on June 3.