Shanghai stocks dipped Friday as investors took profits on blue chips after five straight trading days of gains.

The Shanghai Composite Index, which tracks the bigger bourse on China��s mainland, [Hong Kong Company Registration Guide]fell 0.62 percent to 2,374.54 points. The drop occurred after the index on Thursday rose to a 20-month high. For the week, the gauge added 0.2 percent.

The CSI300 index, which covers the leading 300 companies listed in Shanghai and Shenzhen, dipped 0.61 percent to close at 2,466.79 points.

��Blue chips have been very strong in recent days, so there was always likely to be some profit taking,�� said Yang Haofan, an analyst at Guotai Junan Securities.

��However, property shares are still strong and the upward momentum will continue as the real estate sector benefits from the government��s easing of purchase and loan policies toward individual buyers.��

Among the biggest blue-chip losers yesterday were Ping An Insurance which fell 1.24 percent to 41.38 yuan (US$6.67), and China Life Insurance which lost 1.15 percent to 15.52 yuan.

Liu Kaizhong, [Hong Kong Company Formation & Registration]investment adviser at Changjiang Securities, suggested investors pursue shares of state-owned enterprises which are undergoing reforms.

Some market observers noted that investors became cautious ahead of economic data for September due next week. Those data include consumer prices and trade.

A Reuters poll of economists showed yesterday that softer domestic demand in China probably pulled down growth in imports, investment and retail sales to multi-month or multi-year lows in September.