China Stocks Decline After Five-day Winning Streak

Chinese stocks turned lower shortly after a choppy opening Tuesday, as Hong Kong and Shanghai's benchmark indexes struggled to maintain momentum after five days of gains. The Hang Seng Index fell 0.5% after touching a four-month high in the previous close. The Shanghai Composite Index also pulled back by 0.4% from its best closing level in more than five years. The falls came amid concerns fueled by the uncertainty of Greece's future in the eurozone and a sharp drop for China's yuan the previous day despite reports saying that the People's Bank of China had injected more liquidity into the markets Tuesday morning. Among the top-weighted index constituents in Hong Kong, China Mobile Ltd. declined 1.8%, and Tencent Holdings Ltd. dropped 0.5%, although Sino-British bank HSBC Holdings PLC gained 0.7%. Mainland Chinese banks recorded broad-based losses, as China Merchants Bank Co. lost 1.5%, China Citic Bank Corp. fell 0.8%, Bank of China Ltd. retreated 0.7%, and Bank of Communications Co. gave up 0.6%. Chinese oil giants headed lower on the back of sliding crude prices, with Cnooc Ltd. down 0.8%, PetroChina Co. off 0.7%, and China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (widely known as Sinopec) lower by 0.5%.