China A-shares finished the morning slightly lower as profit-taking hit financial stocks after yesterday's rise, dealers said.

They said investors remain cautious with the market lacking fresh leads.

Nonferrous metal stocks fell due to weakness in the commodities market, while oil refiners benefited from another drop in crude oil prices.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index ended the morning down 12.93 points or 0.48 pct at 2,706.44.

"The market was directionless, with nothing to generate sharp rises or falls, as the government did not provide fresh leads," said Zhang Gang, an analyst with Central China Securities. Zhang expects the market to continue consolidating in a narrow range.

"Financial stocks were a drag on the market," he said.

Analysts noted that turnover remained thin, pointing to a decreased likelihood of a major breakthrough on the composite index, with the Olympics in Beijing starting this week possibly sidelining many investors.

China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (Sinopec) rose 1.64 pct to 11.77 yuan after crude oil settled down 59 cents at 118.58 usd a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Wednesday.

Airlines, which carry a lot of foreign debt, were sharply lower with the pace yuan appreciation appearing to have slowed recently, dealers said.

China Southern Airlines tumbled 5.53 pct to 7.34 yuan and China Eastern Airlines fell 4.29 pct to 7.58 yuan.

Air China shed 4.33 pct to 9.49 yuan.

The Shanghai A-share Index was down 13.53 points or 0.47 pct at 2,839.43, while the Shenzhen A-share Index fell 5.31 points or 0.64 pct to 823.99.

The FTSE/Xinhua China A 50 Index was down 83.17 points or 0.83 pct at 9,891.04 and the FTSE/Xinhua China A 200 Index fell 60.95 points or 0.80 pct to 7,511.27.

(1 usd = 6.8 yuan)