China stocks slipped in quiet trading on Friday, led down by property shares hit by profit-taking after their significant gains the previous day. The bluechip CSI300 index fell 0.5 percent, to 3,275.67, while the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.3 percent to 3,033.90 points. For the week, CSI300 was up 1.1 percent, while SSEC rose 1 percent. Market sentiment was checked by a sharp pull-back in property shares following the previous session's surge.
Sector bellwether Vanke slumped 5.6 percent, giving back much of Thursday's 9.7 percent gains. Analysts said Friday's low volume reflected the coming of a long holiday break for China's National Day. After its close on September 30, the market will be shut until Monday, October 10, according to an exchange notice. "Many investors are not in a mood to trade ahead such a long holiday," said Wang Yu, analyst at Pacific Securities.
"On the economic front, there's not much encouraging data that entices investors into the market," Wang said. Sector bellwether Vanke slumped 4.5 percent, giving back much of Thursday's gains. But infrastructure stocks were firm amid signs that Beijing is stepping up approval of infrastructure projects to aid a struggling economy. China's Ministry of Finance is expected to give green light to a third batch of public-private partnership (PPP) projects worth about 2.2 trillion yuan ($329.84 billion) in total investment, official Shanghai Securities News reported. Most sectors fell, with industrial and consumer stocks leading the decline.
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