SHANGHAI, March 26 (Reuters) - China stocks edged lower on Tuesday with yuan's recent weakness affecting investor sentiment, while focus was also on policy support for the country's struggling property sector.
The yuan eased against the dollar, after a sharp bounce the previous day, pressured by underlying expectations that easier monetary policy at home and broad greenback strength will lead to more weakness in the local currency.
Chinese regulators are pushing banks to speed up approvals of new loans to cash-starved private property developers, people with knowledge of the matter said on Monday.
** At the midday break on Tuesday, the Shanghai Composite index was down 0.38% at 3,014.90 points. ** China's blue-chip CSI300 index was down 0.04%, with its financial sector sub-index higher by 0.64%, the consumer staples sector up 0.82%, the real estate index down 0.06% and the healthcare sub-index down 0.78%. ** Chinese H-shares listed in Hong Kong rose 0.17% to 5,764.42, while the Hang Seng index was down 0.08% at 16,461.11. ** The smaller Shenzhen index was down 0.54%, the startup board ChiNext Composite index was unchanged and Shanghai's tech-focused STAR50 index was down 1.28%. ** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was firmer by 0.01%, while Japan's Nikkei index was up 0.04%. ** The yuan was quoted at 7.2182 per U.S. dollar, 0.09% weaker than the previous close of 7.212. ** The biggest percentage gainers in the main Shanghai Composite index were Jiangsu Liance Electromechanical Technology , up 14.8%, followed by Beijing Dalong Weiye Real Estate Development, gaining 10.18%, and QingHai HuaDing Industrial, up 10.08%. ** The biggest percentage losers in the Shanghai index were Shanghai New Power Automotive Technology, down 10.048%, followed by AA Industrial Belting Shanghai, losing 9.997%, and Dali Pharmaceutical, down 9.977%. (Reporting by Shanghai Newsroom; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)
