SHANGHAI, March 30(Reuters) - China and Hong Kong stocks fell on Monday as investor concerns over coronavirus-driven global shutdowns overshadowed an unexpected rate cut by the country's central bank.
At the midday break, the Shanghai Composite index was down 1.59% at 2,728.07 points.
China's blue-chip CSI300 index was down 1.8%, with its financial sector sub-index dropped 1.4%, the consumer staples sector down 1.11%, the real-estate index down 1.55% and the healthcare sub-index slipped 1.94%.
The Hang Seng index dropped 1.3% to 23,181.07 points, while the Hong Kong China Enterprises Index lost 0.9% to 9,419.72.
The current concern is if external demand deteriorates due to the coronavirus contagion, China will be inevitably impacted as it's a key part of global industry chains, Bohai Securities wrote in report.
The upside room for the A-share market is relatively narrow, the brokerage added.
A rising tide of national lockdowns threatened to overwhelm policymakers' frantic efforts to cushion what is likely to be a deep global recession.
The ruling Communist Party's Politburo said the government will step up policy measures and tighten enforcement in a bid to achieve full-year economic and social development targets.
China's central bank unexpectedly cut the rate on reverse repurchase agreements by 20 basis points on Monday, the largest in nearly five years, as authorities stepped up measures to relieve pressure on an economy ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic.
In a note to clients, Capital Economics said "a lot more easing will be needed, especially on the fiscal front, to help the economy return to its pre-virus trend."
Mainland China reported a drop in new coronavirus infections for a fourth day as imported cases dropped, while authorities shut the borders to foreign travellers and drastically slashed the number of international flights.
Around the region, MSCI 's Asia ex-Japan stock index was weaker by 0.88%, while Japan's Nikkei index was down 2.78%.
The yuan was quoted at 7.0961 per U.S. dollar, 0.01% firmer than the previous close of 7.097.
As of 0412 GMT, China's A-shares were trading at a premium of 27.36% over the Hong Kong-listed H-shares. (Reporting by Luoyan Liu and Andrew Galbraith, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)

Sumber : reuters.com