China stocks end week higher; techs retreat ahead of reform measures

** The Trump administration on Thursday declined to acknowledge any plans to meet with China over the Phase 1 trade deal after the commerce ministry in Beijing said bilateral talks would be held "in the coming days" to evaluate the agreement's progress. ** Chinese purchases of U.S. goods are running well behind the pace needed to meet a first-year increase of $77 billion specified in the deal, according to official data.

China stocks ended higher on Friday and posted a weekly rise, as investors cheered a series of solid corporate earnings, though uncertainty over Sino-U.S. trade talks kept a check on gains. ** The blue-chip CSI300 index rose 0.9%, to 4,718.84, while the Shanghai Composite Index added 0.5% to 3,380.68.

** For the week, CSI300 was up 0.3%, while SSEC climbed 0.6%. ** Investors found some support from a series of strong first-half earnings from Chinese companies as Beijing ramped up stimulus support to revive an economy hammered by the COVID-19 crisis.

** Bucking the broad strength, tech players lost ground for the week. The tech-heavy start-up board index and the STAR50 index dropped 1.4% and 2.4% respectively, as investors turned cautious ahead of the implementation of reforms measures for Shenzhen's start-up board ChiNext. ** The first batch of companies registered for listing on ChiNext under a revamped initial public offering (IPO) system will make their debuts on Aug. 24, the Shenzhen Stock Exchange said on Friday.

** Investors need to further monitor the impact on market liquidity and risk appetite from the implementation of a registration-based IPO system for ChiNext, which could increase volatility and equities supply, Yuekai Securities noted in a report. ** On Monday, China's central bank injected 700 billion yuan ($101.32 billion) of MLF loans, alleviating concerns over liquidity tightening following more signs of economic recovery.

** Market participants were also watching out for developments on trade talks between Washington and Beijing. ** The Trump administration on Thursday declined to acknowledge any plans to meet with China over the Phase 1 trade deal after the commerce ministry in Beijing said bilateral talks would be held "in the coming days" to evaluate the agreement's progress.

** Chinese purchases of U.S. goods are running well behind the pace needed to meet a first-year increase of $77 billion specified in the deal, according to official data. China, however, has increased the pace of farm product purchases in recent weeks. ($1 = 6.9085 Chinese yuan renminbi)