Stocks close near even, as commodities take toll

Chinese mainland stocks clung close to even on Thursday, weighed down by the commodities sector, while worries over capital outflows curbed investor risk appetite.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index edged up 0.11 percent to close at 3,208.45 points, while the Shenzhen Component Index finished 0.21 percent lower at 10,945.42 points.

The CSI 300 index of the 300 biggest companies traded in Shanghai and Shenzhen ticked up 0.20 percent to close at 3,436.53 points.

The ChiNext Index, which tracks China’s NASDAQ- style board for high- tech and emerging start- ups, fell 0.89 percent to 2,163.04 points.

A total of 545.67 billion yuan ($ 79.44 billion) in shares changed hands on the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges.

“China’s markets were dampened as coal and metal, which boosted markets earlier, gave up some of their recent sharp gains,” Reuters reported on Thursday, citing Zhang Yanbin, an analyst at Zheshang Securities.

Zhang pointed out that the future performance of energy and raw material shares was subject to Trump’s commitment to boost spending.

The shipping, military related and rare- earth sectors outperformed the mainland market on Thursday. Gree Electric Appliances, China’s largest air conditioner manufacturer, jumped to nearly 4 percent after the company scrapped plans to acquire a lithium battery producer. The company’s shares climbed 1.96 percent to close at 22.84 yuan on Thursday.