Stock markets end flat after a volatile day
China’s stock markets finished flat on Thursday after a volatile trading day, with the combined turnover of the two bourses up slightly compared to the previous day.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index inched up 0.08 percent, or 2.46 points, to close at 2,917.76. It pared over 1 percent gains during intra-day trading, boosted by the strong performance of heavyweight nonferrous metals and infrastructure stocks.
The smaller Shenzhen Component Index fell by 0.15 percent to end at 9,152.77 points, while the ChiNext Index gained 0.25 percent to finish at 1,514.20 points.
The combined turnover of the two bourses came to 348.6 billion yuan (US$50.61 billion), up from the previous trading day's 331.6 billion yuan.
Sectors suffered wide losses in the afternoon session, as investors took a wait-and-see approach, with trade companies, electrical equipment makers and computer-related stocks among the top losers. Shares of Suning.com, an online-to-offline smart retail company, shed 4.83 percent to stand at 10.45 yuan.
Gold stocks posted strong rallies throughout the day, thanks to news that US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell had signaled the US central bank could cut interest rates soon.
On Thursday afternoon, a Ministry of Commerce spokesman told a press conference that the economic and trade delegations of China and the US will resume negotiations on the basis of a consensus reached by the two heads of state on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Osaka.
