China stocks slip as oil price surge outweighs market support efforts
FXI•Support efforts and policy outlook remain in focus
Geopolitical uncertainties and higher oil prices have weighed on broader Asian markets that depend on the Middle East for their oil needs.
China's CSI 300 and Shanghai Composite ended up 2.7% and 1.3% respectively for the week, fuelled by China's securities regulator's vow to boost stability and the 60 billion yuan ($8.86 billion) investment by two state-backed funds in equities.
On Thursday, China's securities regulator pledged to prevent risks in key areas and strengthen policy reserves to respond to global market fluctuations and cross-border risk transmission, according to a meeting readout.
The upcoming listing of Chinese memory giant CXMT has also weighed on market sentiment, as investors fear such mega IPOs will sap market liquidity.
Semiconductor .CSI931743 and bank stocks .CSI399986, .HSMBI gained on Friday, while most other sectors dropped.
"Investors remained cautious ahead of the July Politburo meeting and the anticipated IPO of CXMT, despite continued market stabilisation efforts from the 'national team' in recent weeks," Morgan Stanley analysts said in a note.
Analysts said the market is closely looking for any change in policy direction or stimulus measures at the Politburo meeting next week.
The weak second-quarter data prints call for support measures, DBS analysts said in a note.
The smaller Shenzhen index .SZSC and the start-up board ChiNext Composite index .CNT went down more than 2% each, and Shanghai's tech-focused STAR50 index .STAR50 edged down 0.1%.
