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China stocks managed to look past soft trade data and end the week higher on Friday, with the benchmark Shanghai index up for the 11th straight session on strong gains in consumer and financial firms.
China's exports and imports growth slowed in December after unexpectedly surging the previous month, adding to signs of ebbing economic growth as the government extended a crackdown on financial risks and factory pollution.
”Although the trade data are often volatile, this latest decline (in import volumes)...is a sign that domestic demand may have weakened at the end of last year,” Capital Economics Senior China Economist Julian Evans-Pritchard wrote in a note.
At the close, the Shanghai Composite index was up 3.97 points or 0.12 per cent at 3,429.32. The blue-chip CSI300 index was up 0.47 per cent, with its financial sector sub-index higher by 0.7 per cent, the consumer staples sector up 1.71 per cent, the real estate index up 0.34 per cent and healthcare sub-index up 0.64 per cent.
For the week, CSI300 was up 2.1 per cent, while SSEC gained 1.1 per cent for its fourth week of gains in a row. The smaller Shenzhen index ended down 0.21 per cent and the start-up board ChiNext Composite index was weaker by 1.03 per cent.
Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was firmer by 0.65 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei index closed down 0.24 per cent . At 07:02 GMT, the yuan was quoted at 6.4766 per US dollar, 0.33 per cent firmer than the previous close of 6.4978.
The largest percentage gainers in the main Shanghai Composite index were Sundy Land Investment Co Ltd up 10.1 per cent, followed by Shenzhen Heungkong Holding Co Ltd gaining 10.09 per cent and Beijing Dalong Weiye Real Estate Development Co Ltd up by 10.02 per cent.
The largest percentage losses in the Shanghai index were Avic Shenyang Aircraft Co Ltd down 10 per cent, followed by Insigma Technology Co Ltd losing 5.1 per cent and Jiangsu Protruly Vision Technology Group Co Ltd down by 5.03 per cent. So far this year, the Shanghai stock index is up 3.57 per cent, the CSI300 is up 4.8 per cent, while China's H-share index listed in Hong Kong is up 5.0 per cent.
About 17.41 billion shares were traded on the Shanghai exchange, roughly 110.1 percent of the market's 30-day moving average of 15.82 billion shares a day. The volume in the previous trading session was 17.38 billion. As of 07:04 GMT, China's A-shares were trading at a premium of 27.43 per cent over the Hong Kong-listed H-shares.
The Shanghai stock index is above its 50-day and 200-day moving averages. The price-to-earnings ratio of the Shanghai index was 15.46 as of the last full trading day while the dividend yield was 1.9 per cent. ** So far this week, the market capitalisation of the Shanghai stock index has risen by 1.10 per cent to 30.04 trillion yuan.
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