Medical sector up but Shanghai stocks continue weekly decline

Shanghai stocks fell for the second day with investors' sentiment remained lukewarm, while the healthcare and medical sector was among the gainers.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index posted its fifth weekly decline, ending down 0.8 percent on Friday to close at 3,266.14 points. Turnover shrank to 161.9 billion yuan (US$24.5 billion).

Brokerages and financial shares showed mixed results while airlines retreated from earlier gains.

Sinolink Securities edged up 0.2 percent to 10.17 yuan while Citic Securities lost 1.05 percent. The Bank of Communications decreased 1.59 percent to 6.18 yuan and Agricultural Bank of China fell 1.08 percent.

China Eastern Airlines lost 0.53 percent to 7.46 yuan and Air China retreated 2.02 percent to 11.15 yuan.

Medical service providers and drug companies were among the gainers amid expectation that renewed rules regarding the review procedure of medical devices and innovative medicines would boost the performance of pharmaceutical companies.

Both Beijing Beilu Pharmaceutical Co and Zhuhai Hokai Medical Instruments Co surged by the daily limit of 10 percent. PKU Healthcare Corp Ltd advanced 3.27 percent to 9.15 yuan.

Retailers also continued their strong momentum. Zhongbai Holdings Group and Beijing Hualian Hypermarket Co both hiked 10 percent, and Jiajiayue Group Co edged up 0.62 percent to 21.15 yuan.

Citic Securities wrote in a research note today that the market outlook is still positive as the fundamentals remain unchanged despite recent retreats as most investors' trading sentiment is subdued towards the year end.