China's shares ended the down 0.18 percent as investors cashed out of blue chips that had rallied over past sessions, despite a key government urging a quicker influx of social security funds into the market. The benchmark Shanghai composite index, grouping foreign-currency B shares and local-currency A shares, finished the at 1,344.666 points, deepening on Thursday's loss. "Profit-taking has gobbled up heavy gains in the previous days," said Qian Qiming, an analyst at Shyness & Wang Securities.
"That was particularly true of blue chips." Social security funds should be allowed into markets at quicker pace, Xiang Hue Cheng, head of the National Social Security Fund, was quoted as saying by the Securities Times.
But investors continued to cash in gains. Bellwether China United Telecommunications Corp, the smaller of the country's two wireless operators, slipped nearly 1 percent to 3.03 yuan after having surged 7 percent two days.
It ended down slightly on Thursday. When Steel Processing Co Ltd, the country's third-largest steel maker, ended at 3.54 yuan, down 0.6 percent. Both ranked among the most active stocks in the morning.
"The market will hover a little above 1,300 points, the psychological support," Qian said. "Investors still await concrete market-boosting policies from Beijing."
The key index has dropped 24.4 percent since April, when economic-cooling steps first took hold. It is likely to move between 1,300 and 1,400 in coming days, analysts say.