Shanghai: As healthcare firms witness fall in the midst of vaccine scandal rather planned talks between the United States and China helped ease trade war fears, Shanghai stocks closed at a nearly 31-month low.
On Friday, the blue-chip CSI300 index ended at 3,229.62 points which were around 1.5 per cent whereas the Shanghai Composite Index closed down at 2,668.97 points around 1.3 per cent. This was the fifth straight day of loss for both the indexes. As per the reports, SSEC was down by 4.5 per cent and CSI300 was down by 5.3 per cent for the week.
The healthcare firms lead the sectors which witnessed the downfall on Friday, due to which the sector witnessed the downfall of 3.3 per cent.
Notably, a former top drug regulator is being probed after a safety scandal at vaccine maker Changsheng Biotechnology Co Ltd and a senior provincial official was sacked by China. This was also a warning that the company could be delisted over the scandal.
China and the United States said their governments will hold lower-level trade talks this month, raising hope of an easing of tensions in an escalating trade war.
Around the region, MSCI’s Asia ex-Japan stock index was firmer by 0.36 per cent while Japan’s Nikkei index closed up 0.35 per cent.
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The largest per cent gainers in the main Shanghai Composite index were Zhe Jiang Dong Ri Ltd Co, which closed 10.06 per cent firmer, followed by Red Avenue New Materials Group Co Ltd, which ended 10.02 per cent higher and Jiangsu Nanfang Medical Co Ltd, which ended up 9.99 per cent.
Till date, a slowdown of 19.3 per cent witnessed by the Shanghai Stock Index and 19.9 per cent downfall witnessed by CSI300 per cent. Apart from this, the H-share index of China which is listed in Hong Kong is also down by 10.4 per cent. Shanghai stocks have declined 7.21 per cent this month.
Trading of almost 11.24 billion shares was done on the Shanghai exchange which is estimated to be around 81.5 per cent of the market’s 30-day moving average of 13.81 billion shares a day. The volume in the previous trading session was 12.03 billion.
The A-shares of China were trading at a premium of 16.38 per cent over the H-shares of Hong Kong. As per the reports, the Shanghai stock index is below its 50-day moving average and below its 200-day moving average. Also, the price-to-earnings ratio of the Shanghai index as of the last full trading day was reported to be 11.78 whereas the dividend yield was 2.8 per cent.
