Mainland Chinese and Hong Kong stock markets delivered a mixed close on Friday, August 21, with precious metals leading the gains while pharmaceutical stocks pulled back sharply.

The Shanghai Composite Index edged up 0.04% to finish at 3,905.2 points, while the Shenzhen Component Index climbed 0.87% to 14,094.17 points. The ChiNext Index advanced 1.43% to 3,545.58 points, though the STAR 50 Index slipped 0.05% to 1,956.85 points.

Sector performance showed clear divergence, with precious metals, oil, consumer electronics, and battery stocks posting the strongest gains. Agricultural and pharmaceutical sectors lagged behind, dragging market sentiment.

The non-ferrous metals segment stood out prominently, with multiple stocks hitting their daily upside limits, including Hunan Silver and Shengda Resources. On the flip side, healthcare names suffered a broad selloff, as Hualan Biological Vaccine, Kangtai Biological, and other major players tumbled more than 9%.

Total turnover on the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges reached 1.88 trillion yuan, contracting by 200.1 billion yuan compared with the prior session. Market breadth tilted negative, with more than 2,800 stocks closing in the red.

Across the border in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index rose 1.21% at the close, while the Hang Seng Tech Index advanced 1.4%. Individual movers included MiniMax surging nearly 12%, Zhipu AI climbing over 10%, Laopu Gold gaining more than 7%, and Zijin Mining advancing almost 5%.