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Staff of Reuters 3 Minutes to Read * SSEC is unchanged, CSI300 is down 0.3 percent, and HSI is up 0.4 percent. * Daily quotas used -2.9 percent for HK->Shanghai Connect and 2.4 percent for Shanghai->HK. The FTSE China A50 is down 0.8%. (Reuters) – BEIJING, July 16 – China’s stocks fell on Friday, with consumer shares leading the decline, but remain on course to gain for the week, buoyed by the central bank’s surprise reduction in the amount of cash that banks must retain as reserves and anticipation for more relaxing policies. * * The Shanghai Composite index was down 0.02 percent at 3,563.79 points at the lunch break, while the blue-chip CSI300 index was down 0.34 percent. * The consumer staples sector fell 1.13 percent, while the healthcare subindex fell 0.27 percent. * The CSI300 has gained 1.27 percent this week, while the SSEC has gained 1.13 percent. * Last Friday, China’s central banks surprised the market by lowering the reserve requirement ratio (RRR), freeing about 1 trillion yuan in long-term liquidity and raising hopes for more policy support this week. * Better-than-expected June activity figures, particularly retail and industrial output, boosted investor confidence, owing to increasing developed market demand and a gradual recovery among Southeast Asian exporters. * The brokerage suggested investing themes such as carbon neutrality and self-sufficiency in critical technologies, as well as sectors with long-term development potential. * “However, while uncertainty regarding (China’s) monetary policy and sector regulation persists, stock valuations are expected to be pressured in the second half of the year,” said J.P. Morgan Asset Management’s Zhu Chaoping. ** Chinese H-shares in Hong Kong rose 0.19 percent to 10,194.06, while the Hang Seng Index rose 0.45 percent to 28,121.00. ** The smaller Shenzhen index fell 0.28 percent, the start-up board ChiNext Composite index fell 1.12 percent, and Shanghai’s tech-focused STAR50 index fell 0.89 percent. Cheng Leng and Andrew Galbraith contributed reporting, and Shailesh Kuber edited the piece./nRead More

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