China shares mixed on profit-taking

Chinese shares ended mixed Monday as profit-taking investors remained cautious after the market soared 4.8 percent on Friday.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index shed 17.23 points, or 0.6 percent, to 2,894.48. The Shenzhen Composite Index for China's second exchange added 0.1 percent to 998.75.

The market didn't resume its surge of last Friday, the first trading day after a weeklong holiday, despite an announcement by Central Huijin, an arm of China's sovereign wealth fund, that it recently bought shares in China's three biggest publicly traded banks.

Analysts said investors were worried a flood of new shares from initial public offerings and lockdown periods ending might pull prices lower.

"There was no exciting news on the market, so investors were holding wait-and-see positions," said Zhang Qi, an analyst for Haitong Securities in Shanghai.

Oil heavyweights fell after the government cut the price for jet fuel. PetroChina Ltd., Asia's biggest oil and gas producer, lost 1.4 percent to 12.98 yuan, while China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., Asia's largest refiner by capacity, dropped by 1.6 percent to 11.60 yuan.

Banks were mixed, with Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., China's biggest commercial lender, up 0.4 percent to 4.96 yuan, and Bank of China Ltd. off 0.3 percent to 3.99 yuan.

Nonferrous shares trimmed some gains from the previous session. Jiangxi Copper Ltd., China's second biggest metal producer, lost 2 percent to 36.83 yuan, and Aluminum Corporation of China fell 3.9 percent to 13.50 yuan.

In currency markets, the yuan weakened to 6.8247 to the U.S. dollar, down from Friday's close of 6.8174.

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