Off the wire
• Bayern's Coman injured in training  • Scientists say China in leading position in space technology  • Mahrez signs new four-year contract with Leicester  • Germany's Gomez joins Wolfsburg  • 2nd Ld-Writethru-China Focus: Polarized housing market creates policy dilemma  • Jamaican police investigating drive-by shooting that kills three  • 1st LD: 3 killed, around 50 injured as mortars hit Afghan city on Independence Day  • Xinhua China-related world news summary at 0900 GMT, Aug. 18  • China Focus: Consumer feeling mixed as China releases first dairy quality report  • Long queues expected at Kanye West's pop-store in Sydney, Melbourne  
You are here: 　 Home

1st LD Writethru: China's stocks close lower despite gains in property sector

Xinhua, August 18, 2016 Adjust font size:

Chinese stocks closed lower Thursday, while real estate shares remained firm after July's home price numbers.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index went down 0.17 percent to close at 3,104.11 points.

The Shenzhen index closed 0.11 percent lower at 10,879.2 points. The ChiNext Index, tracking China's NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, was down 0.3 percent to close at 2,201.59 points.

Thursday's overall turnover rebounded to 635 billion yuan (about 96 billion U.S. dollars), up nearly 20 billion yuan from the previous trading day.

The property industry was much-watched Thursday. Property shares surged in the morning session but dropped in the second half. Yet several developers were still among the best performers. Guangdong Highsun Group and China Real Estate Corporation both reached the 10 percent daily limit.

Data released Thursday showed the property sector continued to moderate in July, with fewer cities reporting month-on-month rises in new home prices.

Of 70 large and medium-sized cities surveyed in July, 51 saw new home prices climb, down from 55 in June and 60 in May, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said.

For existing homes, 51 cities reported price increases in July and 12 reported lower prices, compared with 48 and 14 in June. Endi