Chinese shares drop on profit-taking

BEIJING -- Chinese stocks fell on Friday on profit-taking as market sentiment turned cautious following previous gains.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index went down 0.9 percent to close at 3,243.84 points, and the smaller Shenzhen index closed 1.58 percent lower at 10,912.63 points.

Turnover on the two bourses expanded to 555 billion yuan (around $80.7 billion), up from 559.6 billion yuan the previous trading day.

The ChiNext Index, which tracks China's NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, lost 1.76 percent to close at 2,143.45 points.

Securities, insurance, and telecommunications were among the day's biggest losers. Leading telecom company China Unicom slumped 6.68 percent to close at 6.84 yuan per share.

Bucking the trend, oil and gas shares extended strong performances on Friday, with oil giant Sinopec gaining 4.36 percent to end the day at 5.5 yuan per share.

Next week, China's stock market will see around 54.8 billion yuan of locked-up shares released for trading, and the stock connection between Hong Kong and Shenzhen will open on December 5, allowing investors to buy and sell shares on each other's markets.

A total of 417 stocks on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong are eligible for trading, and 881 stocks are eligible on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.