A-Shares Close Week Down, Resources Slump Countered by Agri Rise

The Shanghai Composite Index dropped another 1.76% to close at 2,691.45, while the Shenzhen Composite Index fell 2.22% to end at 1,064.17 on Friday, May 07. Trading turnovers on the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges were RMB 100.16 billion and RMB 80.19 billion, respectively.

Oil companies were quickly dumped Friday after the National Development and Reform Commission, the country's economic planner, said it has no plans to raise its price caps for oil products at present, chinanews.com.cn reports. China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) (NYSE:SNP, 0386.HK, 600028.SH) lost 3.43% and PetroChina (NYSE:PTR, 0857.HK, 601857.SH) slid 2.9%.

Pingdingshan Tianan Coal Mining (601666.SH) plunged 8.69%, Henan Shenhuo Coal & Power (000933.SZ) slid 7.09%, Xishan Coal Electricity Group (000983.SZ) declined 7.08%, Shanxi Coal International Energy Group (600546.SH) dove 6.05% and Yanzhou Coal Mining (NYSE:YZC, 1171.HK, 600188.SH) lost a further 4.82%. The falls followed several previous days of falls by mainland coal companies on both Hong Kong and mainland exchanges this week. On Wednesday, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao stressed the need for energy saving and carbon reduction measures to be carried out with "an iron fist" in a State Council notice on achieving carbon reduction targets laid out in the country's 11th 5-year plan, 788518.com reported May 7.

Agricultural companies continued to remain strong Friday. Gansu Yasheng (600108.SH) soared 9.96%, Heilongjiang Agriculture Company (600598.SH) jumped 7.16%, Xinjiang Sayram Modern Agriculture (600540.SH) increased 5.99% and Tongwei (600438.SH) added 3.51%.

China Southern Airlines (NYSE:ZNH, 1055.HK, 600029.SH) dropped 5.59%, China Eastern Airlines (0670.HK, 600115.SH) retreated 5.02% and Air China (0753.HK, 601111.SH) decreased 4.73%.