Mainland stocks end lower on cautious trade

Stocks on the Chinese mainland ended higher on Friday, but the Shanghai Composite Index and blue-chip shares closed lower for the past week, as a deadline for public comments on fresh US trade tariffs expired.

At the close of the trading session on Friday, the blue-chip CSI300 index ended 0.45 percent higher. Meanwhile, the Shanghai Composite Index was up 10.71 points or 0.4 percent at 2,691.59 points.

This is the third time that the Shanghai index has breached the psychologically key 2,700 point level since August. Analysts warned that investors should be prudent with the A-share market in the following months, citing tight liquidity and the escalating trade war between the world’s two largest economies.

Last week, the Shanghai index was down 0.8 percent, while blue chips were down 1.7 percent. The market capitalization of the Shanghai stock index fell by 1.24 percent to 28.66 trillion yuan ($4.19 trillion).

The Trump administration is ready to move ahead with the next round of tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports after a public comment period ended at midnight in Washington on Thursday, but the timing is uncertain, people familiar with the administration’s plans told Reuters.

China has warned of retaliation if the US introduces new tariffs, a commerce ministry spokesman said on Thursday.

On Friday, the CSI300 financial sector subindex rose 0.8 percent and the real estate index ended up 0.94 percent. Healthcare shares rose after two days of losses, with the sub-index of the CSI300 tracking healthcare firms rising as much as 2.7 percent in the morning session.

The gains follow heavy selling of healthcare shares in recent months amid a vaccine scandal that has undermined confidence in healthcare and consumer firms. The healthcare sub-index is down more than 23 percent from late-May highs.

Airlines took off as investors hunted for bargains after losses in recent months due to a weak yuan and rise in oil prices.