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Ray Chan

Mainland Chinese equities skidded lower by the close of morning trade on Friday morning, extending their prior day’s fall as investors continued to sell large-cap stocks in banks and insurance companies as exchanges in Shanghai and Shenzhen are on track to post double-digit losses for the month of July.
Hong Kong stocks managed to eke out a small gain, driven by a rally in Macau casino stocks following a solid performance of their US-listed peers overnight before the release of Macau’s July gross gaming revenue.
The Shanghai Composite Index fell 1 per cent to end the morning trade at 3,669.45. The CSI 300 Index of large-cap companies was little changed, giving up 0.08 per cent to 3,812.34.
The Shenzhen Composite Index shed 0.42 per cent to settle midday at 2,119.24, while the ChiNext Board dipped 0.24 per cent to 2,555.07.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.40 per cent to 24,595.51 at the close this morning, driven by casino duo Galaxy Entertainment and Sands China, while the H-share Index increased 0.49 per cent to 11,191.86.
“The market traded sideways to slightly bearish for the entire morning session with investors apparently struggling to guess the direction of the market,” said Gerry Alfonso, a director of Shenwan Hongyuan Securities in Shanghai.
Three out of the big-four state-owned lenders in Shanghai finished in the red this morning, with China Construction Bank being the exception, rising 0.5 per cent, probably due to hype over lingering speculation about getting an insurance license in China.
Shares in China Life in Shanghai advanced 0.8 per cent to 28.21 yuan, the only insurer in positive territory.
On a weekly basis, the Shanghai and Shenzhen Composites are on track to drop 9 per cent each, even though they are still in positive territory, up 13.4 and 12.5 per cent, year to date respectively.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index crept 0.01 per cent higher to 20,525.29, while the Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.45 per cent to 5,694.9.


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Chinese stocks down by midday close on weakness in banks and insurance firms

An electronic board at a brokerage house in Beijing shows share prices on the Shanghai stock exchange. Photo: EPA 

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