SHANGHAI: China stocks edged up on Friday to post their best week in a month, aided by strong gains in shares of technology companies.
The blue-chip CSI300 index ended 0.2 per cent higher at 3,405.02 points while the Shanghai Composite Index closed flat at 2,795.31 points.
For the week, CSI300 is up 2.7 per cent while the SSEC gained 2 per cent, both posting their best week since mid-July.
However, both the SSEC and CSI300 are down more than 10 pct since late May
Technology shares have rallied after China said it has revamped a national leadership group charged with planning and studying its key technological development strategies, signalling a potential policy boost for home-grown tech firms.
The tech-heavy start-up board ChiNextP rallied 2 per cent this week, snapping a three-week losing streak.
But gains in the market were capped as worries lingered over the trade frictions with the United States.
China's top newspaper rebutted growing criticism in government circles that Beijing should have taken a lower profile to head off its trade war with the United States, saying on Friday that, like an elephant, China cannot hide its size and strength.
A growing trade war with the United States is causing rifts within China's Communist Party, with some critics saying that an overly nationalistic Chinese stance may have hardened the U.S. position, according to four sources close to the government.
Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was weaker by 1.02 per cent while Japan's Nikkei index closed down 1.33 per cent .
At 07:00 GMT, the yuan was quoted at 6.8525 per U.S. dollar, 0.51 per cent weaker than the previous close of 6.818.
The largest per centage gainers in the main Shanghai Composite index were Keda Group Co Ltd up 10.07 per cent, followed by Nacity Property Service Co Ltd, up 10.02 per cent, and Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic Technology Co Ltd , up 10.01 per cent.
The largest per centage losers in the Shanghai index were Anhui Liuguo Chemical Co Ltd, down 8.38 per cent, followed by Hebei Jinniu Chemical Industry Co Ltd, down 8.22 per cent, and Angel Yeast Co Ltd, down 7.37 per cent.
So far this year, the Shanghai stock index is down 15.5 per cent, the CSI300 has fallen 15.5 per cent while China's H-share index listed in Hong Kong is down 6.6 per cent. Shanghai stocks have declined 2.81 per cent this month.
About 12.15 billion shares were traded on the Shanghai exchange, roughly 86.7 per cent of the market's 30-day moving average of 14.01 billion shares a day. The volume in the previous trading session was 15.17 billion.
As of 07:01 GMT, China's A-shares were trading at a premium of 16.70 per cent over the Hong Kong-listed H-shares.
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