Stocks losing as mainland markets shrink
China stocks extended losses on Thursday with turnover on the mainland markets continuing to shrink.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index dipped 0.26 percent to 3,332.18 points, while the smaller Shenzhen Component Index fell 0.48 percent to 13,624.89 points.
The SSE STAR 50 Index, which measures the performance of the 50 largest stocks trading on the SSE Star Market, dropped 2.34 percent to 1,453.79 points, while the ChiNext Composite Index closed 0.95 percent lower at 2,737.96 points.
Trading volume on the two major bourses added up to 764 billion yuan (US$143.17 billion), shrinking 63.7 billion yuan from the previous session. The Shanghai market posted turnover 17.3 billion yuan lower at 263.8 billion yuan.
Capital continued to flow out of the mainland markets on Thursday, with a net outflow of 330 million yuan via the Stock Connect schemes linking Shanghai and Shenzhen with Hong Kong.
As for industry sectors, the catering and tourism shares continued to fall, with Guangzhou Lingnan Group Holdings Co, Jinma Technology Entertainment Corp and Tempus Global Business Service Group Holding all losing over 5 percent.
The daily chemical sector was also among the big decliners. Chongqing Baiya Sanitary Products Co tumbled by the daily limit of 10 percent, while Hangzhou Haoyue Personal Care Co slumped over 8 percent.
Banks, however, performed well, with the Wind Information's sub-index for bank shares rising 1.41 percent. Bank of Hangzhou rose by over 5 percent.
The agricultural industry, health care shares and commercial services saw declines, while the textile and garment sector and coal firms rose.
On the STAR Market, 55 listed companies gained while 128 posted losses.
The initial public offering of Shanghai Holystar Information Technology Co made it the biggest gainer in the session with a 22.97 percent rise in stock price, while DBAPP security Co fell the most by 10.04 percent.