STAR stars as main board falls 
2019-07-30
Shanghai stocks dipped yesterday, dragged down by a weak financial sector. 
The Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.12 percent to 2,941.01 points, while the smaller Shenzhen Component Index edged up 0.06 percent to 9,354.28 points, and the blue-chip CSI300 index closed 0.11 percent lower at 3,854.27 points.
Total turnover on the two major bourses continued to shrink, hitting 343.74 billion yuan (US$49.87 billion) compared with  351.86 billion yuan on Friday.
Major industrial firms posted a combined 2.4 percent year-on-year fall in profits in the first half. This has led to some firms putting off major decisions and scaling back manufacturing investment.
Meanwhile, education, the industrial hemp sector and stocks related to the Shanghai Free Trade Zone were also among the losers. However, all 25 firms on the new sci-tech STAR board posted gains.
