China stocks end week lower on market rates

China’s stocks ended lower last week, after the country’s central bank nudged up money market rates following the widely expected US rate hike and as mixed data reinforced signs of a modest slowdown in the global economic powerhouse.

At Friday’s close, the Shanghai Composite index was down 26.29 points or 0.8 percent at 3,266.15.

Meanwhile, the blue-chip CSI300 index was down 1.12 percent, with its financial sector subindex lower by 1.11 percent, the consumer staples sector down 1.31 percent , the real estate index off 2.23 percent and healthcare sub-index down 1.22 percent.

The smaller Shenzhen index ended down 1.01 percent and the start-up board ChiNext Composite index was weaker by 0.58 percent.

The People’s Bank of China (PBC), the country’s central bank, lifted money market rates as authorities sought to defuse financial risks without imperiling the economy.

“The rate move shows that Fed policy is still one of the parameters to influencing the PBC’s decision-making,” Tommy Xie, economist at OCBC, was quoted as saying in a Reuters report over the weekend.

Also denting sentiment, data on Thursday showed China’s industrial output and retail sales grew at a steady pace last month, while fixed-asset investment cooled slightly, reinforcing signs of a modest slowdown in the world’s second-biggest economy.

Last week, the market capitalization of the Shanghai stock index has risen by 0.18 percent to 28.68 trillion yuan ($4.34 trillion).

The Shanghai stock index is below its 50-day moving average and above its 200-day moving average.

The price-to-earnings ratio of the Shanghai index was 14.75 as of the last full trading day while the dividend yield was 2 percent.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission, the country’s securities regulator, approved three IPOs last week that aim to raise a combined total of up to 3.7 billion yuan, the Securities Times reported over the weekend.