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Chinese shares slip 0.52% to end week lower
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-09-25 19:09

BEIJING: Chinese equities dropped by 0.52 percent in light trade Friday amid fluctuations, and ended the week lower.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index retreated 14.71 points to finish at 2,838.84, about 3.5 percent down from last Friday's close.

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The Shenzhen Component Index lost 0.8 percent, or 91.71 points, to close at 11,384.16.

Losers outnumbered gainers by 573 to 259 in Shanghai and 477 to 275 in Shenzhen.

Liquidity concerns overshadowed Friday's market as 10 firms launched online subscriptions Friday on China's Nasdaq-like Growth Enterprise Board.

Share prices dipped in the morning, and the benchmark index fell again before closing after a rebound led by heavy-weight oil producers temporarily lifted stocks out of negative territory, as investors adopted a cautious wait-and-see attitude.

Combined turnover shrank for a fourth day, by more than 25 percent from Thursday's 176.94 billion yuan ($26.02 billion) to 129.33 billion yuan Friday.

Sinopec, Asia's largest refiner, advanced 0.35 percent to end at 11.39 yuan, lower than its day high of 11.55 yuan. PetroChina, the nation's biggest oil producer, fell 0.39 percent to 12.85 yuan at close after hitting a high of 12.99 yuan during the afternoon.

Nonferrous metal producers led losses, with the sector falling more than 3 percent. Henan Yuguang Gold and Lead Co. posted the biggest drop of 6.37 percent to end at 20.58 yuan.

Steel makers, banks and real estate developers also fell. Baosteel, the country's leading steel maker, edged down 0.45 percent to 6.62 yuan.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the country's biggest lender, dropped 1.01 percent to 4.9 yuan.

China Vanke, the country's biggest listed property developer, retreated 2.03 percent to 10.64 yuan.

Analysts with Southwest Securities expect the market to sustain falls before the National Day holidays, but said they would be limited.

There are three trading days next week before trading is suspended for the holidays starting October 1.