Mainland stocks fall; Apple suppliers dive

Stocks on the Chinese mainland fell on Monday as the threat of US tariffs on nearly all of China’s exports to the US continued to hover over markets, and as a tweet from US President Donald Trump shook suppliers of tech giant Apple.

The Shanghai Composite Index was down 1.21 percent to 2,669.48 points, while the blue-chip CSI300 index was down 1.45 percent to 3,230.07 points.

Trump warned on Friday he was ready to slap tariffs on virtually all Chinese imports into the US, threatening duties on another $267 billion worth of goods on top of $200 billion in imports primed for levies in coming days.

Shares in China-based Apple concept firms fell after US President Donald Trump tweeted on Saturday that Apple Inc should make products in the US if it wanted to avoid tariffs on Chinese imports.

Shares in Apple suppliers Luxshare Precision Co, Shenzhen Sunway Communication Co and Suzhou Dongshan Precision Manufacturing Co fell as much as the daily limit of 10 percent on Monday morning.

The NASDAQ-style start-up board ChiNext index was weaker by 2.41 percent.

China’s drug safety body has found no problems in its inspection of 45 vaccine makers and will step up supervision of vaccine quality, it said on Friday, following a scandal that put children at risk. A sub-index of the CSI300 tracking healthcare firms was down 1.24 percent.