China stocks extend rally but finish week with losses

Chinese stocks ended slightly higher on Friday, extending an ongoing rally into a fourth consecutive session following Monday's steep tumble.

Despite a lower opening, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index climbed 0.33 percent to end at 2,875.96 points, while the smaller Shenzhen Component Index edged up 0.1 percent to 10,611.55 points. The ChiNext Component Index, meanwhile, advanced 0.18 percent to 2,015.8 points, and the blue chip CSI300 was up by 0.09 percent to 3,899.87 points.

Turnover on the two major bourses totaled 929.6 billion yuan (US$133 billion), compared with 913.5 billion yuan in the previous session. Meanwhile, mainland markets saw a net outflow of 3.3 billion yuan via the Stock Connect schemes linking the mainland with Hong Kong.

Stocks of nearly 200 listed companies surged by the daily limit of 10 percent in the session.

By sector, computer shares led, with Vtron Group Co, Linewell Software Co, and Shandong New Beiyang Information Technology Co all jumping to the 10 percent daily cap.

Media shares, the comprehensive financial sector, as well as stocks related to cloud computing and environment protection were also among the biggest gainers.

The medical sector, however, retreated from an earlier rally. Still, over 10 companies in the sector soared by the daily limit.

For the week, recent market gains were not enough to offset Monday's nosedive as worries persist about the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.

The Shanghai Composite Index posted a weekly decline of 3.38 percent, the biggest loss since the second week of May 2019.