Analyst recaps Chinese stock market's Friday performance

Chinese stocks closed lower on Friday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index down 0.37 percent to 3,559.95 points.

The Shenzhen Component Index followed suit, closing 0.17 percent lower at 10,991.32 points, while the ChiNext Index, China's Nasdaq-style growth board, lost 0.24 percent to end at 2322.63 points.

Market analyst Timothy Pope highlighted these trends in his recap of Friday's stock market performance.

"Today the Shanghai Composite Index was down 0.4 percent. The market is definitely seeing resistance around the 3,600 point level, the index hasn't been able to find a solid foothold above that level yet. But it did round out July with a very healthy 3.7 percent gain, not only the biggest monthly gain since last September, but the third consecutive month of rises," Pope said.

"This week though that profit taking will dent things a little bit, and there are a number of reasons why we're seeing that pullback, beyond the technical resistance. Obviously, tariffs as you mentioned and trade, a very big one. The tariffs imposed today by the U.S. on a number of trading partners make investors concerned about the state of global trade. And while talks between China and the U.S. obviously are still ongoing, the market seems to expect another tariff extension is more likely than an actual deal that will really improve the situation, at least for the moment. The latest economic data was also a little dispiriting, you've already been discussing the factory activity for July," he explained.

"Sector-wise for stocks today, energy accounts were dragging lower. There were some continued heavy losses for oil refiner stocks. PetroChina was the biggest drag on the Shanghai market today, it shed more than 4 percent. But coal and steel stocks were folding too. Investors definitely taking their profits there after the recent gains that were made on the hopes that the government will be able to persuade firms in several sectors from continuing to try and undercut each other on prices more or less continuously," added Pope.

Analyst recaps Chinese stock market's Friday performance

The multilateral system is "under attack" amid global turmoil, President of the 80th UN General Assembly Annalena Baerbock warned in her remarks on Wednesday.

In her briefing on the priorities for the resumed 80th Session of the General Assembly, the UNGA president noted that the current multilateral system does not collapse all in a sudden, but "crumbles piece by piece" in divisions, compromises, and lack of political commitment.

The president called all the UN member states to defend the UN Charter and international law and promote cross-regional cooperation.

She also urged to push forward the work of the UNGA on certain critical issues with a strong majority, rather than an absolute consensus among all member states. Such act is not a failure of multilateralism, but "an affirmation of it," she said.

The foundational principles of the institution should not be eroded by appeasement, she said, calling the member states to show courage, leadership, and responsibility at the UN's "critical make-or-break moment."

"The UN needs you. Your support, your leadership, your principle, stand, your cross-regional cooperation, if we are to preserve and modernize this institution, if we are to make it, rather than break it," she said.

UNGA President warns global multilateral system "under attack"