Israel launched strikes against Iran on Friday, saying it targeted nuclear facilities, ballistic missile factories and military commanders during the start of a prolonged operation to prevent Tehran from building an atomic weapon.
** At the close, the Shanghai Composite index ended 0.75% lower at 3,377.00 points, while the blue-chip CSI300 index dropped 0.72% to 3,864.18 points.
** The smaller Shenzhen index ended down 1.32% and the start-up board ChiNext Composite index was weaker by 1.13%.
** In Hong Kong, the benchmark Hang Seng index dropped 0.59% to 23,892.56 points, while the Hang Seng China Enterprises index fell 0.85% to 8,655.33 points.
** However, the risk-off sentiment lifted gold and miners’ shares, with key performers including Western Region Gold Co , Shandong Gold Mining Co, and Zhongjin Gold Corp all closing more than 2% higher. ** China’s defense sub-index closed up 1.7%. ** Oil and gas shares were another outperformer, with a sub-index jumping 2.02%.
** Safe-haven demand for the U.S. dollar also pressured the yuan, with the onshore spot price weakening 0.14% to 7.1815 per dollar around 0800 GMT.
* Major Chinese stock indexes appeared poised for a weekly decline, despite the recent trade truce between Washington and Beijing easing the risk of further tariff escalation in the near term.
** “While geopolitical tensions (between the United States and China) may have temporarily deescalated, China’s macroeconomic outlook remains fragile,” BCA Research said in a note.
“As a result, without a decisive policy boost, Chinese equities lack any catalyst to trend higher.”
** Both the SSEC and CSI300 indexes fell 0.25% for the week, booking their third weekly loss in four weeks.
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