China's main equity market indexes ended flat on Friday in thin trade as investors remained cautious after the arrest of a senior Huawei executive sparked a global sell-off on fears it could derail hopes for a lasting US-China trade detente.
At the close, the Shanghai Composite index was flat at 2,605.88 points. But despite the sharp fall on Thursday, it gained 0.7 percent for the week.
The blue-chip CSI300 index also ended flat at 3,181.56 points, with its financial sector sub-index higher by 0.07 percent, the consumer staples sector down 0.25 percent, the real estate index up 0.66 percent and the healthcare sub-index down 4.31 percent. The CSI300 index gained 0.3 percent for the week.
Shares in China's drugmakers slumped, as investor worries deepened over the steep price cuts following bidding results in volume-based drug procurement negotiations. The CSI300 healthcare index finished 4.3 percent lower.
Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, who is under arrest in Canada is set to appear in a Vancouver court on Friday for a bail hearing as she awaits possible extradition to the United States.
President Donald Trump did not know about plans to arrest Meng, two US officials said on Thursday, in an apparent attempt to stop the incident from impeding crucial trade talks with Beijing.
The smaller Shenzhen index ended unchanged for the day and the start-up board ChiNext Composite index was weaker by 0.352 percent.
Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was firmer by 0.32 percent, while Japan's Nikkei index closed up 0.82 percent.
At 0708 GMT, the yuan was quoted at 6.8779 per US dollar, 0.06 percent firmer than the previous close of 6.882.
The largest percentage gainers in the main Shanghai Composite index were TianYu Eco-Environment Co Ltd, up 10.05 percent, followed by Eastern Communications Co Ltd, gaining 10.03 percent and Jiangsu Xinri E-Vehicle Co Ltd , up by 10.03 percent.
The largest percentage losses in the Shanghai index were FUREN Group Pharmaceutical Co Ltd down 10 percent, followed by Zhejiang Langdi Group Co Ltd losing 9.99 percent and Autobio Diagnostics Co Ltd down by 9.72 percent.
So far this year, the Shanghai stock index is down 21.2 percent, the CSI300 has fallen 21.1 percent while China's H-share index listed in Hong Kong is down 10.9 percent. Shanghai stocks have risen 0.68 percent this month.
About 10.91 billion shares were traded on the Shanghai exchange, roughly 61.0 percent of the market's 30-day moving average of 17.88 billion shares a day. The volume in the previous trading session was 14.17 billion.
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