Shanghai stocks have worst week in 14 months

China stocks reversed earlier losses and ended higher on Friday, underpinned by robust gains in resources firms. But major indexes still posted hefty weekly drops, led by the Shanghai benchmark index which posted its worst week in 14 months. Market sentiment remained unstable, with more than 60 stocks tumbling the maximum allowed 10 percent, as investors continued to dump small-caps after firms including Leshi flagged large losses for 2017.
At the close, the Shanghai Composite index was up 15.96 points or 0.5 percent at 3,462.94. The blue-chip CSI300 index was up 0.6 percent, with its financial sector sub-index higher by 0.1 percent, the consumer staples sector down 0.74 percent , the real estate index up 0.67 percent and healthcare sub-index up 0.16 percent. For the week, SSEC dropped 2.7 percent, while CSI300 was down 2.5 percent.
The smaller Shenzhen index ended unchanged for the day and the start-up board ChiNext Composite index was higher by 0.3 percent. Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index fell 0.3 percent while Japan's Nikkei index closed down 0.9 percent. At 0705 GMT, the yuan was quoted at 6.2754 per US dollar, 0.34 percent firmer than the previous close of 6.2965.
The largest percentage gainers in the main Shanghai Composite index were Yang Quan Coal Industry Group Co Ltd up 10.04 percent, followed by Offshore Oil Engineering Co Ltd gaining 10.03 percent and ShanXi Coking Co Ltd up by 10.03 percent. The largest percentage losses in the Shanghai index were Guizhou Chitianhua Co Ltd down 10.03 percent, followed by Shanghai Diesel Engine Co Ltd losing 10.02 percent and Routon Electronic Co Ltd down by 10.01 percent.
So far this year, the Shanghai stock index is still up 4.7 percent and the CSI300 is up around 6 percent, while China's H-share index listed in Hong Kong is up 16 percent. About 20.81 billion shares were traded on the Shanghai exchange, roughly 102.5 percent of the market's 30-day moving average of 20.31 billion shares a day. The volume in the previous trading session was 26.05 billion.
As of 07:06 GMT, China's A-shares were trading at a premium of 30.13 percent over the Hong Kong-listed H-shares. The Shanghai stock index is above its 50-day moving average and above its 200-day moving average. The price-to-earnings ratio of the Shanghai index was 15.85 as of the last full trading day while the dividend yield was 1.8 percent. So far this week, the market capitalisation of the Shanghai stock index has fallen by 2.65 percent to 30.48 trillion yuan.