Chinese stock markets follow Wall Street lower

China stocks slid on Friday after a sharp overnight sell-off on Wall Street.

At close, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index shed 0.87 percent to 3,355.37 points, snapping a five-week winning streak, while the Shenzhen Component Index dropped 0.84 percent to 13,656.66 points.

The bluechip CSI300 Index fell 0.97 percent to 4,770.22 points, while the tech-heavy ChiNext Composite Index fell 0.54 percent.

Meanwhile, the STAR 50 Index, which tracks the 50 biggest and most representative companies listed on the tech-heavy STAR Market for more than six months, lost 0.85 percent.

Wall Street’s main indexes marked their steepest one-day decline in months on Thursday as investors sold technology shares, while economic data signaled a long and difficult recovery.

The US decline dented sentiment in the A-share market, as investors on Friday sold a net 6.31 billion yuan (US$0.92 billion) worth of China stocks via the Stock Connect linking the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong, which allows foreign investors access to the country’s onshore equities.

Leading the declines, consumer staples shares suffered the biggest losses on worries about lofty valuations. The food and drinks sector and the liquor sector sank 2.50 percent and 2.39 percent respectively.

“Food and drink shares have surged over 60 percent this year. The high-flying sector might temporarily end soaring in the future,” BOC International said in a note.

Kweichow Moutai Co Ltd and Wuliangye Yibin Co Ltd, two of China’s most famous liquor makers, as well as Foshan Haitian Flavouring and Food Company Ltd, have topped the A-share market in terms of their market value, excluding banking shares and PetroChina Company Limited.

Shares of Foshan Haitian Flavouring and Food Company Ltd plunged 7.68 percent on Friday after setting a record high of 203 yuan per share on Thursday.

Bucking the trend, semiconductor firms climbed on reports of new policies to prop up the chip sector.