HONG KONG: China and Hong Kong stocks extended declines on Tuesday with weakness across the board, joining the slide in the Asia region as sentiment turned jittery ahead of a slate of US data releases. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index lost as much as 1.3% to 3816.06, the lowest level since October 13, before trading 1.2% lower as of the midday break. The blue-chip CSI 300 Index lost 1.4% to the lowest in nearly three weeks. Weakness was across the board on Tuesday, with the rare earth sector leading losses with a 3.5% drop. Among other major losers, new energy-related shares lost 3.2%. The artificial intelligence sector declined 2.5% amid concerns about the sector being overheated. Sentiment has turned cautious again after data showed domestic fundamentals remain weak, and with key policy meetings for the year mostly concluded last week, the market will need more forceful catalysts if it was to grind higher, analysts at Nanhua Futures said. “We think the market is likely to continue range-bound for the near term,” and the US data release this week could add to volatility if they impact rate cut expectations, they added. In the region, sentiment was fragile with shares tumbling as investors adopted a cautious approach ahead of US data. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index fell 2.11%, and the benchmark Hang Seng Index was down 1.9%. The Hang Seng Tech Index tumbled 2.4%, bringing the losses since the October peak to roughly 20%.‑Reuters