China A-shares finished the morning session lower led by airlines after oil prices hit a new record above 129 usd a barrel, dealers said.

Financial stocks continued to be weak as analysts said bad debts could rise in the Sichuan earthquake zone and insurers would see more quake-related claims.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index ended the morning down 64.33 points or 1.87 pct at 3,378.83.

The Shanghai A-share Index fell 67.43 points to 3,545.21, while the Shenzhen A-share Index was down 29.87 points at 1,081.29.

The FTSE/Xinhua China A 50 Index was down 276.93 points at 13,129.66 and the FTSE/Xinhua China A 200 Index lost 236.64 points at 10,037.32.

                                                                                                                                             from:tootoo.com