China stocks slip; healthcare, energy firms weigh; Hong Kong edges up

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* SSEC -0.3 pct, CSI300 -0.3 pct, HSI 0.2 pct

* HK->Shanghai Connect daily quota used -0.5 pct, Shanghai->HK daily quota used 0.1 pct

* FTSE China A50 -0.2 pct, BNY Mellon ADR China Select Index -0.8 pct

SHANGHAI, Dec 19 (Reuters) – China stocks slipped on Wednesday morning, with gains in real estate and utilities shares offset by losses in healthcare and energy companies.

** The CSI300 index fell 0.3 percent, to 3,120.14 points at the end of the morning session, while the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.3 percent, to 2,570.18 points.

** Healthcare firms extended a days-long slide, with the CSI300 healthcare index falling 2.4 percent to its lowest since early 2017, as investors reacted to policy headwinds including a pilot volume-based procurement policy.

** Energy firms retreated both on the mainland and Hong Kong, tracking weakness in oil prices on economic slowdown fears and a supply glut.

** Property shares climbed, with the CSI300 real estate index up 0.8 percent and its peer in Hong Kong up 0.5 percent after a Chinese city removed curbs on property sales, raising speculation of policy loosening in the tightly-regulated sector amid an economic slowdown.

** In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index added 0.2 percent, to 25,855.34 points, while the Hong Kong China Enterprises Index lost 0.2 percent, to 10,211.33

** Around the region, MSCI’s Asia ex-Japan stock index was firmer by 0.51 percent while Japan’s Nikkei index was down 0.65 percent.

** The yuan was quoted at 6.8899 per U.S. dollar, 0.09 percent firmer than the previous close of 6.8959.

** The largest percentage gainers in the main Shanghai Composite index were Lushang Property Co Ltd, up 10.09 percent, followed by Routon Electronic Co Ltd, gaining 8.07 percent and Beijing Huaye Capital Holdings Co Ltd , up by 7.3 percent.

** The largest percentage losses in the Shanghai index were Fujian Raynen Technology Co Ltd, down 9.98 percent, followed by Shandong Xinchao Energy Corp Ltd, losing 9.5 percent and Wingtech Technology Co Ltd, down by 8.76 percent.

** So far this year, the Shanghai stock index is down 22.09 percent, while China’s H-share index is down 12.6 percent. Shanghai stocks have declined 0.45 percent this month.

** The top gainers among H-shares were Huaneng Power International Inc, up 2.49 percent, followed by Air China Ltd, gaining 2.35 percent and China Vanke Co Ltd , up by 2.22 percent.

** The three biggest H-shares percentage decliners were China Petroleum & Chemical Corp, which has fallen 3.60 percent, CNOOC Ltd, which has lost 3.3 percent and CSPC Pharmaceutical Group Ltd, down by 2.7 percent.

** About 5.57 billion shares have traded so far on the Shanghai exchange, roughly 34.1 percent of the market’s 30-day moving average of 16.33 billion shares a day. The volume traded was 11.70 billion as of the last full trading day.

** As of 04:00 GMT, China’s A-shares were trading at a premium of 18.74 percent over the Hong Kong-listed H-shares.

(Reporting by Luoyan Liu and John Ruwitch; Editing by Sunil Nair)

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