Stock exchanges see another weekly fall, new offering soars

Stock markets in the Chinese mainland saw another week-on-week fall on Friday, but the first new offering in 15 months soared by more than 40 percent.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index declined by 18.75 points or 0.93 percent to 2,004.95 points on Friday, the lowest since early August. The index ended the week 0.41 percent lower than the previous week.

The Shenzhen Component Index fell by 122.65 points or 1.60 percent to 7,544.56 points, losing 103.48 points or 1.35 percent from January 13.

Combined turnover on the two bourses on Friday was 145.09 billion yuan ($23.98 billion), down from Thursday's 162.61 billion yuan.

Valve maker Neway Valve (Suzhou) Co surged by 43.49 percent to 25.34 yuan on its Friday debut, which was the country's first new share offering in more than a year.

Last week, concerns over tight liquidity weighed on shares in banks after credit data released Wednesday by the People's Bank of China showed an obvious slowdown in new credit growth in December. Also, demand for cash in the money market increased ahead of the Spring Festival holidays, lifting the country's money rates last week.

Shares in nonferrous companies saw a strong gain last week after the Indonesian government banned iron ore exports starting from January 13, with Chinese companies expected to benefit from the ban. Jilin Jien Nickel Industry Co was up by 18.98 percent from a week ago while Chengtun Mining Group Co gained by 21.63 percent.

ChiNext, China's NASDAQ-style board for high-tech and fast-growing start-ups listed in Shenzhen, gained slightly on Friday, rising by 0.35 points or 0.02 percent to 1,395.51 points. The index saw a weekly gain of 3.12 percent following a 3.75 percent gain in the previous week.

The weekly gain in ChiNext was backed by a continued rally in stocks related to "smart" technology and wearable devices, with many companies having introduced new smart products at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Wuxi Hodgen Technology Co, a developer of intelligent control devices, surged 32.52 percent last week while CSG Smart Science and Technology Co soared by 36.46 percent.