Mainland stocks end mixed for past week

Chinese mainland stocks ended mixed at the end of last trading week, with the blue- chips notching up to a 19- month high, while start- ups suffered their worst weekly slump since last July.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index added 0.13 percent to 3,222.42 points on Friday. For the whole of last week, it gained 0.14 percent, marking the fourth consecutive week with a gain.

The index was bolstered by blue- chip stocks. Shanghai Stock Exchange 50 Index, selected bluechips from the Shanghai- listed market, closed at a 19- month high at 2,622.98 points.

The blue- chip CSI300 index also inched up 0.4 percent, closing at 3,703.09 points on Friday with a weekly gain of 1.3 percent.

However, the tech- heavy start- up board ChiNext dropped 4.9 percent, marking its worst week since July 2016, which was partially hit due to the faster pace of IPO approval over recent days. On Friday, China’s securities regulator announced that it has approved nine IPOs that aim to raise a combined total of up to 4.2 billion yuan ($ 620 million), with four on the ChiNext board. Two weeks ago, only six listings got approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission.

Many small- cap stocks tumbled, losing 30 percent or more last week.

Over recent weeks, some Chinese mainland companies posted lackluster half- year earnings, which drove investors to get rid of growth stocks with higher uncertainties and favor those that have predicable incomes when financial regulations are prone to becoming tightened.

“We do not see any reason why investors will plough money in growth stocks for now, given expectations of dim results at these firms amid tight liquidity conditions,” Yan Kaiwen, an analyst with China Fortune Securities, said in a Reuters report on Friday.

Over the past week, bank sectors outperformed the broader market, gaining 5.1 percent, thanks to lenders’ improved profitability amid China’s stable economic growth.