Gold firms lose their luster

Shanghai stocks were largely flat on Monday after rising more than 0.2 percent in the morning session, dragged down by the weak performance of automakers and gold mining companies. 

The Shanghai Composite Index edged up 0.08 percent to 2,914.48 points after foreign trade in the first 11 months registered steady growth by expanding 2.4 percent year on year. Turnover was 174.5 billion yuan (US$24.9 billion). 

Brokerages were lukewarm as Guoyuan Securities lost 0.24 percent and Citic Securities was down 0.58 percent. 

Shandong Gold Mining Co shed 1.77 percent to 31.11 yuan and Zhongjin Gold Mining Co lowered 0.99 percent. 

Software services moved higher on the prospect that commercialization of the 5G network would boost spending. Shenzhen Forms Syntron Information Co Ltd surged by the daily limit of 10 percent to 34.88 yuan and Teamax Smart City Technology Corporation Ltd jumped 8.56 percent to 6.34 yuan. 

Steel firms were among the gainers with Baoshan Iron & Steel Co jumping 4.07 percent and Beijing Shougang Co rising 2.05 percent to 3.49 yuan. 

Generally, investors are still uncertain about the outcome of the trade dispute with the US and liquidity tends to be tight around the year end, and the index is likely to fluctuate in narrow ranges, Lianxun Securities said in a research note. 

Guotai Junan Securities expects liquidity to improve in early next year with up to a trillion yuan of capital injection in 2020 although the index might trade in a slightly broad range and fluctuate in the near future, it said.