China Stock Markets Open Lower

Chinese stocks were trading lower on Friday, ahead of U.S. jobs report later in the day. The Shanghai Composite Index dropped 26.6 points, or 0.81 percent to 3,246.74, while the Shenzhen composite fell 1.2 percent to 543.86.

iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index (ETF) FXI shares closed at $37.59 on Thursday, while SPDR S&P China (ETF) GXC fell 0.64 percent to close at $76.42.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.36 percent, to 19,191.93, the S&P500 index fell 0.35 percent to 2,191.08, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.36 percent to 5,251.11.

Oil prices traded lower on Friday, with the US WTI crude futures on the NYMEX dropping 0.82 percent to trade at $50.64 a barrel.

Top market movers among the Shanghai Composite index are as follows:

• China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (600028: SHH) shares gained 5 percent to 5.53 CNY.
• China Railway Group Ltd (601390: SHH) rose 2 percent to 9.92 CNY.
• PetroChina Co Ltd (601857: SHH) shares rose 2 percent to 7.91 CNY.

• China United Network Communications Ltd (600050: SHH) shares dropped around 5.2 percent to 6.95 CNY.
• SAIC Motor Corp Ltd (600104: SHH) dropped 3.4 percent to 24.86 CNY.
• Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group Co Ltd (600887: SHH) fell 2.7 percent to 19.43 CNY.