Hong Kong shares lower, China shares flat

Hong Kong stocks slipped 0.13 percent Friday after a report showed prices of new homes in China fell for the first time in two years and as China Construction Bank reported its worst quarter in more than five years. The Hang Seng Index fell 30.98 points to 23,302.20 on turnover of HK$50.17 billion ($647 billion).
The average price of new homes in 70 mainland cities fell 1.1 percent on-year in September, after rising 0.5 percent in August, according to Dow Jones Newswires. The fall illustrates the potential risks China's volatile property market poses to the slowing economy.
China Construction Bank's shares slumped 0.89 percent to HK$5.58 after it reported its weakest profit growth in more than five years. This impacted other banking shares such as a ICBC, which slipped 0.80 percent to HK$4.98. In other sectors, China Mobile jumped 1.87 percent to HK$89.75, while Internet giant Tencent dropped 0.33 percent to HK$119.2. In mainland China, shares ended flat on Friday, reversing early gains after investors took profits, dealers said.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.14 points to 2,302.28 on turnover of 114.3 billion yuan ($18.7 billion). The index dropped 1.66 percent over the week. The Shenzhen Composite Index, which tracks stocks on China's second exchange, edged up 0.05 percent, or 0.59 points, to 1,296.64 on turnover of 121.3 billion yuan. It lost 2.03 percent for the week.
"Despite the rebound in the morning following overnight gains on overseas markets, profit-taking continued due to a lack of positive news in the short term," Northeast Securities analyst Shen Zhengyang told AFP. Defence stocks were among the biggest laggards in Shanghai. Sichuan Chengfa Aero-Science & Technology tumbled 5.07 percent to 25.09 yuan while Jiangxi Hongdu Aviation Industry sank 3.47 percent to 25.07 yuan.
Banks were mostly lower on worries over bad loans. Ping An Bank fell 0.59 percent to 10.18 yuan in Shenzhen, while China Construction Bank slid 0.25 percent to 4.05 yuan in Shanghai. But train maker China CNR Corp gained 0.94 percent to 6.45 yuan in Shanghai after announcing it will supply the metro system of the US city of Boston.