SHANGHAI, June 5 (Reuters) - China stocks edged down on Wednesday, dragged lower by consumer and property shares, despite an unexpected pickup in service activity in May. Hong Kong shares were up.
China's services activity in May accelerated at the quickest pace in 10 months while staffing levels expanded for the first time since January, a private sector survey showed on Wednesday, pointing to sustained recovery in the second quarter.
Meanwhile, some Chinese AI chip companies are designing less powerful processors to retain access to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co 2330.TW production in the face of U.S. sanctions.
The CSI semiconductor index .CSIH30184 rose 1.1%.
** At the midday break, the Shanghai Composite index .SSEC was down 0.36% at 3,079.92 points.
** China's blue-chip CSI300 index .CSI300 was down 0.22%, with its financial sector sub-index .CSI300FS 0.55% lower, the consumer staples sector .CSI000912 down 0.95%, the real estate index .CSI000952 down 1.77% and the healthcare sub-index .CSI300HC up 0.67%.
** Chinese H-shares listed in Hong Kong .HSCE rose 0.27% to 6,572.21, while the Hang Seng Index .HSI was up 0.33% at 18,505.56.
** The smaller Shenzhen index .SZSC was down 0.33%, the start-up board ChiNext Composite index .CNT was higher by 0.12% and Shanghai's tech-focused STAR50 index .STAR50 was up 0.37%.
** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index .MIAPJ0000PUS was firmer by 0.72% while Japan's Nikkei index .N225 was down 1.07%.
** The yuan CNY=CFXS was quoted at 7.2457 per U.S. dollar, 0.08% weaker than the previous close of 7.2402.
** The top gainers among H-shares were Sunny Optical Technology Group Co Ltd 2382.HK, up 3.91%, followed by NetEase Inc 9999.HK gaining 2.78% and JD.Com Inc 9618.HK up by 2.73%.
** The three biggest H-shares percentage decliners were China Unicom Hong Kong Ltd 0762.HK, which has fallen 2.55%, PetroChina Co Ltd 0857.HK, which has lost 2.28% and CNOOC Ltd 0883.HK, down by 2.18%.
(Reporting by Shanghai Newsroom; Editing by Eileen Soreng)
((li.gu@tr.com))