Mainland stock exchanges end first week of 2015 with gains

Mainland exchanges declined on Friday but ended the first week of the new year in positive territory.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index inched down by 0.24 percent or 8.04 points to 3,285.41 points on Friday, with a weekly gain of 1.63 percent. The Shenzhen Component Index fell by 1.22 percent or 140.38 points to close at 11,324.76 points, ending the week up 2.82 percent.

The CSI 300 Index of the biggest companies traded on the bourses in Shanghai and Shenzhen closed down by 0.35 percent at 3,546.72 points, adding 0.42 percent week-on-week.

Total turnover on the two bourses was 702.68 billion yuan ($113.24 billion), up from Thursday's 638.2 billion yuan.

On Friday, shares linked to coal, logistics, electrics and auto companies declined, while insurers, banks and IT stocks gained.

SDIC Xinji Energy Co declined by 5.76 percent to 6.71 yuan and China Shenhua Energy Co fell by 3.62 percent to 21.56 yuan, leading the coal sector's slide of 2.64 percent on average.

Daqin Railway Co fell by 3.58 percent to 11.32 yuan and Guangshen Railway Co declined by 2.53 percent to 4.63 yuan.

All the listed insurers rose by more than 4.5 percent on average with China Life Insurance Company jumping by 5.67 percent to 33.88 yuan.

The ChiNext Index, China's NASDAQ-style board for high-tech and fast-growing start-ups, rose by 0.74 percent or 11.35 points to 1,553.24 points on Friday. ChiNext gained by 5.54 percent week-on-week.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index edged up by 0.35 percent to 23,919.95 points, with total turnover of HK$124.40 billion ($16.05 billion). The index rose 0.26 percent week-on-week.