Financial sector drags down stocks
Shanghai stocks dipped on Monday, dragged down by weak performance in financial sectors.
The Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.12 percent to 2,941.01 points, while the smaller Shenzhen Component Index edged up 0.06 percent to 9,354.28 points. The blue chip CSI300 index closed 0.11 percent lower at 3,854.27 points.
The total turnover on the two major bourses continued to shrink to 343.74 billion yuan (US$49.87 billion) from 351.86 billion yuan in the previous session.
China's major industrial firms in the first half of the year posted a 2.4 percent year-on-year decline in profits, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Saturday. Some industrial firms put off business decisions and scaled back manufacturing investment.
Brokerages led the losses, with Changjiang Securities Co falling 6.17 percent and Huatai Securities Co down by 4.72 percent.
The engineering machinery sector also cooled. Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science and Technology Co dropped 5.12 percent, while Canny Elevator Co, XCMG Construction Machinery Co and Sanny Heavy Industry Co all shed over 2 percent.
Education shares, the industrial hemp sector and stocks related to the Shanghai Free Trade Zone were also among the decliners.
On China's new Nasdaq-style sci-tech board, all 25 STAR-listed firms posted gains, led by Beijing Worldia Diamond Tools which surged by the daily maximum of 20 percent.
