Defence stocks lead Shanghai shares lower after Biden-Xi meeting

[SHANGHAI] Shanghai stocks closed lower on Tuesday (Nov 16), with defence stocks leading the losses, as markets reversed morning session's gains from upbeat signs positive signs in talks between US President Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

The blue-chip CSI300 index was unchanged at 4,883.32, while the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.3 per cent to 3,521.79 points.

US President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping stressed their responsibility to the world to avoid conflict as the heads of the 2 top global economies gathered for hours of talks on Monday (Nov 15).

Investors had expected the summit to help stabilise China-US ties by opening negotiations over the conflicting areas.

The defence sub-index dropped 3.9 per cent amid easing tensions between US and China in the meeting.

Consumer staples gained 1.6 per cent, with liquor makers surging nearly 4 per cent. Healthcare shares went up 2.7 per cent.

Several Chinese food companies have increased the prices of their products since last month due to rising raw material and transportation costs.

Haitong Securities said PPI may have already peaked and could fall in the fourth quarter, which would reduce the cost pressure for companies and bring more opportunities in the consumer sector.

On the second trading day of the new Beijing Stock Exchange, only 7 shares of the first batch of 81 companies went up.

REUTERS