Losing streak continues as investors await batch of new IPOs

Mainland stock exchanges declined for a third consecutive day on Friday, as investors prepared for a flurry of new IPOs.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index nudged down by 1.93 percent or 60.62 points to 3,075.91 points on Friday, with a weekly fall of 4.17 percent. The Shenzhen Component Index fell by 2.48 percent or 274.48 points to 10,791.1 points, with a weekly dip of 3.22 percent.

The CSI 300 Index of the biggest companies traded on the bourses in Shanghai and Shenzhen declined by 1.62 percent to 3,312.42 points. The index saw a weekly drop of 3.53 percent.

Total turnover on the two bourses on Friday came to 502.13 billion yuan ($81.97 billion), down from the previous trading day's 632 billion yuan.

Starting from Monday, China's stock market will reportedly see subscriptions for 24 new IPOs, locking up an estimated 2.3 trillion yuan in funds.

Meanwhile, the market has drawn limited support from the reduction in banks' reserve requirement ratio (RRR).

Late on Wednesday, the People's Bank of China, the central bank, announced an RRR cut for the first time in two years.

The markets jumped more than 2 percent in morning trading on Thursday, but the positive sentiment did not last long, with the Shanghai bourse closing down 1.18 percent and Shenzhen declining by 0.46 percent.

On Friday, there were gains for pharmaceutical stocks but losses for most other sectors including coal and IT.

Both China National Medicines Corp and China National Accord Medicines Corp rose by the daily trading limit of 10 percent, closing at 34.31 yuan and 52.56 yuan respectively.

Weak performance by tech companies on Friday weighed on the ChiNext Index, China's NASDAQ-style board for high-tech start-ups, which fell 2.44 percent to 1,730.97 points.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index closed down by 0.35 percent or 86.10 points at 24,679.39 points on Friday, with total turnover of HK$75.94 billion ($9.79 billion).