SHANGHAI: China stocks declined on Tuesday, dragged down by semiconductor shares, while gaming stocks stabilised after a slew of companies announced share buyback plans.

The Hong Kong market is closed for a holiday.

** China’s blue-chip CSI300 Index and the Shanghai Composite Index both dropped 0.7% by the lunch break.

** Semiconductor and information technology shares led the decline, both down 2.1%.

** Hangzhou Changchuan Techonology Co. and Sai Microelectronics Inc. lost 5.8% and 4.5%, respectively.

** At least eight China-listed gaming companies, including Perfect World Co, have announced share buyback plans worth as much as 780 million yuan ($109.17 million) in total to boost investor confidence and stabilise share prices across an industry shaken by new regulatory moves.

** Share prices of those companies mostly stabilised on Monday after sharp declines, with the CSI Anime Comic Game Index still down 1.6%.

** Despite the broad weak sentiment, coal and energy stocks edged up, as investors prefer high-dividend and low-valuation sectors.

** China’s onshore shares are still searching for a bottom and may cross the inflection point around Lunar New Year, analysts at Orient Securities said in a note on Tuesday.