China's Shanghai Slightly Lower; Baidu Q3 Revenue Drops

Chinese stocks edged lower on Friday, with the Shanghai Composite dropped 2.18 points, or 0.07 percent to 3,110.17. The Chinese yuan declined against the dollar, sliding to a new six-year low.

Baidu Inc (ADR) (NASDAQ: BIDU) reported a drop in quarterly revenue. Its revenue slipped 0.7 percent year-over-year to 18.25 billion yuan ($2.74 billion). Online marketing revenue dropped 6.7 percent, while the number of advertisers declined 16 percent. Baidu’s profit rose to 3.1 billion yuan, from 2.8 billion yuan in the year-ago quarter. Baidu warned revenue to slide in the fourth quarter.

Taiwan's gross domestic product increased 2.06 percent year-over-year in the third quarter.

US stock markets ended lower overnight, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 0.16 percent, to 18,169.68, the S&P500 index dropping 0.30 per cent to 2,133.04, and the Nasdaq Composite slipping 0.65 percent to 5,215.97.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures gained 0.16 percent to trade at $50.55 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures on the NYMEX rose 0.08 percent to trade at $49.76 a barrel.

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

• Ping An Insurance Group Co of China Ltd (601318: SHH) shares gained 1.1 percent to 34.55 CNY.
• CITIC Securities Co Ltd (600030: SHH) rose 0.8 percent to 16.88 CNY.
• China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (600028: SHH) 0.6 percent to 5.01 CNY.

• China Railway Group Ltd (601390: SHH) shares down around 2 percent to 8.51 CNY.
• Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group Co Ltd (600887: SHH) dropped 1.2 percent to 18.10 CNY.
• China Northern Rare Earth Group High-Tech Co Ltd (600111: SHH) fell 1.1 percent to 12.56 CNY.