China shares end lower as materials weigh; property sector down

SHANGHAI: China shares fell on Friday as losses in materials firms outweighed gains in consumer staples, while the property sector fell amid investor concerns over a missed bond payment by developer China Evergrande Group.

At the close, the Shanghai Composite index was down 0.8% at 3,613.07 points. The blue-chip CSI300 index fell 0.08%, with the materials sector down 3.97%, the financial sector 0.86% lower and real estate firms down 0.84%.

China's cabinet pledged this week to roll out policies to boost consumption and use more market-based measures to stabilise commodity prices, while the state planner on Friday called on state companies to provide sufficient power supply to fertiliser producers amid soaring prices.

The consumer staples sector ended the day up 3.55%.

Weakness in property firms came as a bond interest payment deadline for Hong Kong-listed developer China Evergrande Group expired with bondholders reporting they had not been paid.

The smaller Shenzhen index ended down 0.64% and the start-up board ChiNext Composite index was higher by 0.797%.

Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was weaker by 0.31%, while Japan's Nikkei index closed up 2.06%.

At 07:00, the yuan was quoted at 6.4619 per U.S. dollar, 0.03% weaker than the previous close of 6.46.

So far this year, the Shanghai stock index is up 4% and the CSI300 has fallen 6.9%, while China's H-share index listed in Hong Kong is down 19.7%. Shanghai stocks have risen 1.95% this month. - Reuters