Mainland stocks have mixed day as optimism continues to fade

Major mainland stock indexes ended just about where they started in a mixed day for the markets on Wednesday.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index ticked down 0.12 percent to close at 3,085.88 points, while the Shenzhen Component Index finished the day 0.09 percent higher at 10,760.44 points.

The CSI 300 Index of the biggest companies traded in Shanghai and Shenzhen decreased 0.36 percent to 3,329.86 points.

The ChiNext Index, which tracks the country’s NASDAQstyle board for growth enterprises, rose 0.83 percent to 2,192.17 points.

A total of 449.10 billion yuan ($ 67.52 billion) in shares changed hands on the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges on Wednesday, down further from Tuesday’s volume of 460 billion yuan, which was down from Monday’s volume of 534.20 billion yuan.

Sectors diverged on Wednesday, with stocks related to popular concepts such as virtual reality and driverless vehicles leading the day’s gainers. Meanwhile, real estate, insurance and brokerage stocks were among the biggest losers.

Analysts didn’t have many optimistic things to say about the mainland stock markets. The markets are going through a period of great uncertainty, analysts from AVIC Securities said. There is a lot of volatility in the markets, as well as some rare opportunities for big rallies in certain sectors.

The analysts stressed that it won’t be easy for the mainland’s major indexes to climb much higher because there aren’t any sectors left where stocks are cheap enough to be considered good investment opportunities.

As for virtual reality stocks, which performed well on Wednesday, the analysts said it remains to be seen whether this industry will become a hot spot for investment.

Analysts from Cinda Securities held a similarly bearish view.

They said it remains unrealistic to expect an upward trend in the market due to the weak micro economy and depressed market sentiment.