China shares barely moved on Friday as gains in healthcare stocks were offset by losses in developers and banking shares.
At 04:03 GMT, the Shanghai Composite index was up 0.12 per cent at 3,164.22, while China’s blue-chip CSI300 index was flat at 3,894.15, with its financial sector sub-index lower by 0.97 per cent.
The consumer staples sector rose 0.2 per cent, the real-estate index down 1.65 per cent and healthcare sub-index up 2.27 per cent.
The smaller Shenzhen index was up 0.91 per cent and the start-up board ChiNext Composite index was higher by 1.79 per cent.
Financial shares on the mainland dropped 1.0 per cent by the lunch break, reports Reuters.
The largest percentage gainers in the main Shanghai Composite index were Aisino Corp up 10 per cent, followed by Grinm Advanced Materials Co Ltd gaining 9.8 per cent and Avicopter Plc up by 7.8 per cent.
The largest percentage losses in the Shanghai index were Jinyu Bio-Technology Co Ltd down 4.84 per cent, followed by Winsan Shanghai Medical Science and Technology Co Ltd losing 4.84 per cent.
About 8.39 billion shares were traded so far on the Shanghai exchange, roughly 50.3 per cent of the market’s 30-day daily moving average of 16.70 billion shares.
The volume traded was 17.03 billion as of the last full trading day.
Hong Kong’s financial markets are closed for the Easter holiday.