Chinese stocks tumble amid trade fight, ETF falls for seven straight days

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An investor obverses the screen at an exchange hall on the first day of Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect on December 5, 2016 in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province of China.

The iShares China Large-Cap ETF (FXI) fell more than 1.5 percent in midday Friday trading, tracking for its first seven-day losing streak since December 2016.

The ETF tracks major Chinese companies traded in Hong Kong. Friday’s drop came as major U.S. stock indexes fell on fears of a trade war between the U.S. and China.

For the week, the ETF was trading 3.9 percent lower, tracking for its worst week since March 23.

In addition to worries about trade, Chinese data on retail sales and industrial activity missed expectations, raising concerns about economic slowdown.

Just seven components are up for the week, led by Anhui Conch Cement.

Chinese tech giant Tencent, the largest company by market capitalization in the ETF, fell 1.25 percent in the last week. Other major decliners included Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and PetroChina.

ZTE was by far the worst performer, falling nearly 49 percent this week after ending a nearly two-month trading halt on Wednesday. The Chinese telecom equipment giant settled with the U.S. last week to pay up to $1.4 billion for violating a March 2017 agreement. Until it makes the payment, ZTE remains banned from buying from U.S. components.

The second-worst performing stock, China Molybdenum, a chemicals company, fell 14 percent this week.

— CNBC’s Gina Francolla contributed to this report.