Mainland stocks reverse early losses

Chinese mainland stocks ended higher on Tuesday, reversing early losses as turbulence gripped the equity market in Asia amid trade tensions between China and the US.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index closed 0.41 percent higher at 2,786.89 points, after shedding 1.9 percent to hit a fresh 28 month low.

Meanwhile, the blue-chip CSI300 index was almost unchanged, up 0.04 percent to end at 3,409.28 points.

Chinese stocks went into a tail spin on Tuesday as turbulence gripped equity markets in Asia, which sank to nine-month lows as investors feared the China-US trade row could derail a rare period of synchronized global growth.

The trade row between the US and major economies has rattled financial markets in the past several weeks, with no sign US President Donald Trump is about to back down from his “America First” protectionism policies that many fear will harm the global economy.

“It’s not clear yet if the trade row will derail the global economy as a whole but it’s already clear that it will harm Chinese companies,” said Ayako Sera, market strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank.

“That is why we’ve seen the Chinese yuan and Chinese stocks suffering with sell-offs. I think this will continue at least until the July 6 deadline,” said Ayako Sera.

The Asia Pacific MSCI index ex-Japan tumbled 1.4 percent to its lowest since September 29.