China shares end down 0.4 pct

The index ended up 0.3 per cent last Friday,its last trading day before a three-day public holiday.

China’s stock market remains one of the world’s worst performers this year,down 22 per cent after China unleashed a range of policies to tame speculation in the property sector.

Analysts said the launch of Agricultural Bank of China’s mammoth initial public offering,with the schedule for the Shanghai portion announced on Wednesday night,was a factor curbing gains although much of the information had already been priced in.

The offering by Agricultural Bank,seeking to raise more than $23 billion in the world’s biggest IPO,will potentially stretch market liquidity and divert funds away from rivals.

“The market lacks positive news to support it and the index faces resistance near 2,600 points,” said Wen Lijun,an analyst at Nanjing Securities.

Volume remained very low,shrinking to 61 billion yuan ($8.93 billion),its lowest in nearly two weeks,from Friday’s 73 billion.