Defense and military sectors lead drops in Shanghai stocks

Shanghai stocks retreated on Friday from an earlier rally, dragged down by computer shares and the national defense and military industry.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index dipped 0.18 percent to close at 2,681.64 points, with turnover shrinking to 104.9 billion yuan (US$15.31 billion) from 112.4 billion yuan on Thursday.

Stocks of companies in national defense and military sectors led the drop. Anhui GreatWall Military Industry Co lost 6.7 percent, and China Avionics systems Co shed 5.44 percent.

Pharmaceutical shares such as Zhejiang Hisun Pharmaceutical posted a 10 percent drop, hitting the daily cap. Beijing Konruns Pharmaceutical retreated by 8.63 percent and Zhejiang Huahai Pharmaceutical lost 6.58 percent.

Computer shares were also among the decliners, with Aisino Corporation falling by the daily limit of 10 percent, and Yonyou Network Technology Co down by 6.49 percent.

For the week, the Shanghai Composite Index posted a weekly loss of 0.79 percent to end its third consecutive weekly fall. Turnover dwindled by 35.3 billion yuan from the previous week.