Chinese Evergrande shares fall

Shares of cash-strapped China's Evergrande and the company's electric vehicle unit New Energy fell shortly after the state planning agency called on companies in "key industries" to "optimize" their debt structures.

Shares of Evergrande and New Energy traded slightly below 1 percent at TSI 0355. At the same time, the Hang Seng index was down 1.7 percent.

LAST PAYMENT OF THE DEBT INSTALLMENT LAST WEEK AND AVOIDED FROM Default

The opinion that Evergrande, which has approximately $300 billion in debt and liabilities, will default, has worried investors in recent weeks and has led to a decrease in risk appetite across the markets. The company avoided default at the last minute by transferring enough money to its bank accounts last week to pay interest on a dollar-denominated bond.

China's state planning agency announced late yesterday that it held a meeting with companies that borrowed foreign currency. At the meeting, companies were advised to use the money they borrowed only for agreed-upon purposes and to "protect the general order of the market as they protect their own reputations".