SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Shanghai stocks ended lower on Wednesday, as hopes of a quick initial trade deal were dented following U.S. President Donald Trump’s remarks, but a series of recent upbeat data and surveys pointing to pick-ups in the Chinese economy helped check losses.
The blue-chip CSI300 index .CSI300 was unchanged at 3,849.82, while the Shanghai Composite Index .SSEC closed down 0.2% at 2,878.12.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s comments that a trade deal with China might have to wait until late 2020 raised fresh doubts on when the dispute might end.
With a new round of U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods scheduled to take effect in less than two weeks, the possibility of another breakdown is growing.
But losses were checked by recent upbeat data. Activity in China’s services sector accelerated to a seven-month high in November, as new business, especially new export business, picked up, a private survey showed on Wednesday.
That came after official data showed factory activity in China unexpectedly returned to growth in November for the first time in seven months, as domestic demand picked up on Beijing’s accelerated stimulus measures to steady growth.
There were also hopes of more stimulus to boost the country’s domestic consumption.
China’s finance ministry published a draft law on consumption taxes on Tuesday that would give China’s cabinet the power to adjust the rates applied to various goods when necessary.
Bucking the broad weakness, the CSI300 consumer discretionary index .CSI000911 was up 1%.
Around the region, MSCI’s Asia ex-Japan stock index .MIAPJ0000PUS was weaker by 0.84%, while Japan’s Nikkei index .N225 closed down 1.05%.