China shares edge lower as property stocks drag; Hong Kong rises

Mainland China stocks inched lower on Monday, dragged down by property shares, while Hong Kong tracked regional peers higher following Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's dovish pivot suggesting an imminent rate cut in the world's largest economy.

Powell on Friday endorsed an imminent start to interest rate cuts, saying further cooling in the job market would be unwelcome and expressing confidence that inflation is within reach of the US central bank's 2 per cent target.

Asian shares crept cautiously higher, while the dollar and bond yields were on the wane ahead of inflation data that investors hope will pave the way for rate cuts in the United States and Europe.

Meanwhile, China's central bank rolled over maturing medium-term loans and kept the interest rate unchanged, underlining market expectations for further easing as the economy struggles to gain traction.

At the midday break, the Shanghai Composite index was down 0.07 per cent at 2,852.34.

China's blue-chip CSI300 index was down 0.07 per cent, with its financial sector sub-index lower by 0.14 per cent, the consumer staples sector down 0.64 per cent, the real estate index up 2.14 per cent and the healthcare sub-index down 0.96 per cent.

Chinese H-shares listed in Hong Kong rose 0.7 per cent to 6,262.6, while the Hang Seng Index was up 0.82 per cent at 17,756.09.

The smaller Shenzhen index was up 0.52 per cent, the start-up board ChiNext Composite index was higher by 0.13 per cent and Shanghai's tech-focused STAR50 index was down 0.14 per cent.

Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was firmer by 0.59 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei index was down 1.04 per cent.