China stocks end mixed as retail takes breather

Chinese stocks ended mixed on Wednesday, with gains in banking and infrastructure firms offset by losses in consumer and real estate shares.

At the close, the Shanghai Composite Index was up 0.24 percent at 3,444.67.

The blue-chip CSI300 index was down 0.24 percent, with its financial sector sub-index higher by 0.92 percent, the consumer staples sector down 2.57 percent, the real estate index down 0.79 percent and the healthcare sub-index down 0.85 percent.

Meanwhile, the smaller Shenzhen index ended down 0.73 percent and the start-up board ChiNext index was higher by 0.72 percent.

Asian equities stepped back as the region’s resource shares were knocked by falling oil and commodity prices while digital currencies tumbled on worries about tighter regulations.

The largest percentage gainers in the main Shanghai Composite Index were Xinjiang Korla Pear Co up 10.03 percent, followed by Lawton Development Co gaining 9.98 percent and Beijing Airport High-Tech Park Co up by 9.97 percent.

The largest percentage losers in the Shanghai index were China Jushi Co down 9.98 percent, followed by Shanghai Shimao Co losing 9.33 percent.

About 26.10 billion shares were traded on the Shanghai exchange, roughly 159.2 percent of the market’s 30-day moving average of 16.39 billion shares a day. The volume in the previous trading session was 21.15 billion.

The price-to-earnings ratio of the Shanghai index was 15.57 as of the last full trading day while the dividend yield was 1.9 percent.

So far this week, the market capitalization of the Shanghai stock index has risen by 0.27 percent to 30.19 trillion yuan ($4.68 trillion).