Chinese stocks down 0.37% at mid-day

Chinese stocks ended slightly lower in the morning trading session on Monday, dragged by market heavy weights.

The Shanghai Composite Index, which covers both A shares and B shares on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, declined 0.37% or 7.77 points to stand at 2,075.08 points in the morning session.

The Shenzhen Component Index on the smaller Shenzhen Stock Exchange went up 1.34% or 102.23 points to stand at 7,710.45 points.

Market heavy weight PetroChina<601857><857><PTR>, the nation's top oil producer, dropped 1.20% to RMB 10.66, while Asia's largest oil refiner, Sinopec<600028><386><SNP> slid 3.50% to RMB 8.00.

Bank shares were also weak. China Merchants Bank (CMB)<600036><3968>, the nation's fifth-largest bank by market value, edged down 0.98% to RMB 14.13. In addition, Bank of Communications<601328><3328>, a leading commercial bank in China, dropped 1.12% to stand at RMB 5.48. Shanghai Pudong Development Bank<600000> tumbled 4.39% to RMB 17.00.

Airlines also suffered losses in the morning session. China Southern Airlines Ltd<600029><1055><ZNH> dropped 5.23% to RMB 4.17; China Eastern Airlines Corp Ltd<600115><670><CEA> retreated 4.62% to RMB 4.54. Shanghai Airlines Co Ltd<600591> lost 3.71% to RMB 4.67.

China's largest aluminum producer Chalco<601600><2600><ACH> declined 2.65% to stand at RMB 8.82 in the morning session after its parent Aluminum Corp of China (Chinalco) said it hoped Australian government would approve its deal to acquire Rio Tinto.

Property shares were the gainers. China Vanke Co Ltd<000002><200002>, the country's largest publicly traded residential properties developer, gained 2.94% to RMB 7.36. Gemdale Corp<600383>, one of the largest property developers in China, went up 5.31% to close at RMB 7.93 COFCO Property (Group) Co. Ltd<000031> rose 2.65% to RMB 5.80. Poly Real Estate Group Co Ltd<600048>, China's second-largest developer by market value, ended 5.05% higher to close at RMB 18.31.

Copyright and Exemption Declaration :¢ÙAll articles, pictures and videos that are marked with "China Aluminum Network" on this website are copyright and belong to China Aluminium Network (www.alu.com.cn). When transshipment, any media, website or individual must list the source from "China Aluminium Network (www.alu.com.cn)". We seek legal actions against anyone that disobey this. ¢ÚArticles that marked as copy from others are for transferring more information to readers, do not represent or endorse their opinions or accuracy and reliability. When other media, website or individuals copy from our website, must keep the source. Anyone that changes the articles' sources will hold the responsibilities for copyright and law problems. We also seek legal actions against anyone that disobey this. ¢ÛIf any articles copied by our website concern the copyright and other problems, please contact us within one week.