Chinese Shares decline but foreign buying robust

Chinese stocks edged down on Thursday, while foreign buying remained robust.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index was down 0.71 percent to 2,906.07points at the close, while the smaller Shenzhen Component Index declined 0.70 percent to 10,864.32 points. The blue chip CSI300 Index lost 0.62 percent to close at 3,959.92 points.

Trading volume on the two major bourses totaled 871.1 billion yuan (US$124.77 billion), expanding from the previous session’s 790 billion.

Precious metals, fertilizers, agrochemicals and the agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery industry led the gains. Shares of Anhui Liuguo Chemical Co Ltd and Jiangsu Changqing Agrochemical Co Ltd both hit the 10 percent daily limit. Sino-Platinum Metals Co Ltd surged 9.99 percent. Heilongjiang Agriculture Company Limited gained 8.84 percent.

Tech shares continued to perform strongly. Shares related to photovoltaics and electronic components did well, with Fuzhou Rockchip Electronics Co Ltd, Suzhou Good-ark Electronics Co Ltd and Tongwei Co Ltd all increasing by the daily cap.

HeXin Tougu said tech shares and shares in the new energy industry chain will keep performing strongly.

Foreign buying in China's A-share market remains robust.

By Wednesday, a total of 67.7 billion yuan (about US$9.7 billion) had been invested through the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect and Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect into China's A-share stock market this year, according to financial data provider Wind.

The six-week capital inflow is equivalent to nearly 20 percent of last year's total.

Meanwhile, global index provider MSCI will update its China All Shares Index by nine additions and three deletions from February 28, including transport giant Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway which debuted on the A-share market in mid-January.

Guangfa Securities said foreign capital would keep flowing in as global recognition of Chinese market openness grows, with expectations of an average annual influx of 300 billion to 400 billion yuan in the next 10 years.

On the SSE STAR Market, 51 of the 84 listed companies post gains. Newly listed Autel Intelligent Technology Corp Ltd, which specializes in automotive intelligent diagnostics, detection and analysis systems and automotive electronic components, led the gains on the STAR board.