Stocks in China and Hong Kong edged lower on Monday, bucking modest regional weakness, as investors await a flurry of data in coming weeks to assess the health of the Chinese economy.
A disappointing US jobs report on Friday has also raised anxiety over the state of the US economy and the Federal Reserve's ability to raise interest rates in coming months, while markets are bracing for Britain's June 23 vote on whether to remain in the EU.
But growing expectations that MSCI will include Chinese shares into its emerging market index have lent some support to the market.
China's blue-chip CSI300 index dipped 0.1 per cent to 3,185.01 points by the lunch break, while the Shanghai Composite Index was unchanged at 2,937.39 points.
Hong Kong shares were also slightly soft, with both the Hang Seng index and the Hong Kong China Enterprises Index down 0.2 per cent.
“In the coming week, the market will focus on May's credit and economic data,” wrote Gao Ting, head of China strategy at UBS Securities.
“We believe if the economy can basically stabilise at April's levels and if there is no sign of significant monetary policy tightening, the market could get some support.”
May data
May data is expected to reinforce views that the world's second-largest economy is slowly steadying but not gaining momentum as investors had hoped just a few months ago, a Reuters' poll of economists showed.
Forex reserve data could be released as early as Tuesday, with trade on Wednesday and inflation on Thursday. Loan and money data is expected any time from June 10-15 and activity data (investment, industrial output and retail sales) on June 12.
President Xi Jinping said on Monday China would continue with its structural reforms and improve its openness to the outside, as the annual US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue kicks off in Beijing.
Financial and consumer shares fell in China on Monday, offsetting gains in transport and materials stocks.
In Hong Kong, most sectors fell, with the service sector leading the decline.