Shanghai stocks up; consumer firms cool

Chinese stocks were little changed on Thursday, with the benchmark index up for a 10th successive session, even as investors took profit in consumer and energy firms after a recent robust rally.

At the close, the Shanghai Composite Index was up 3.51 points, or 0.10 percent, at 3,425.34.

At the same time, the blue-chip CSI300 index was down 0.05 percent and the start-up board ChiNext index was higher by 0.73 percent.

The largest percentage gainers in the main Shanghai Composite Index were Chengdu Xuguang Electronics Co up 10.05 percent, followed by Beijing Vantone Real Estate Co gaining 10.04 percent and Sunyard System Engineering Co up by 10.03 percent.

The largest percentage losers in the Shanghai index were Anhui Conch Cement Co down 7.27 percent, followed by Zhuzhou Kibing Group Co losing 7.1 percent and Gansu Qilianshan Cement Group Co down by 5.91 percent.

So far this year, the Shanghai stock index is up 3.47 percent and China’s H-share index listed in Hong Kong is up 5.0 percent.

About 17.38 billion shares were traded on the Shanghai exchange, roughly 109.7 percent of the market’s 30-day moving average of 15.85 billion shares a day.

The volume in the previous trading session was 20.91 billion.

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 15.45 as of the last full trading day while the dividend yield was 1.9 percent.