SHANGHAI stocks retreated today after data showed China's manufacturing activity moderated to a five-month low in February.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index shed 0.26 percent to 2,359.51 points. Turnover was 111.5 billion yuan (US$18 billion) by the trading close. The index gained 1.96 percent for the week.

China's official Purchasing Managers' Index, a gauge of manufacturing activity slanted more towards state-owned firms, dropped to 50.1 in February from January's 50.4, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. A reading of 50 or above indicates activity is expanding.

The figure was the weakest in five months, fuelling concerns over the recovery of the world's second-largest economy.

"Despite the effect of the week-long Spring Festival holiday, the falling PMI figure confirmed a weak economic recovery," Ping An Securities said in a report today. "The re-stocking activity among factories receded because the demand was still flabby as indicated by the decreasing new orders and raw material prices."

A separate report released by HSBC Holdings PLC today showed that manufacturing activity at private and export-oriented firms also cooled in February. The HSBC China PMI slid to 50.4 from a two-year high of 52.3 in January.

China Life Insurance led the decline of insurers, falling 2.9 percent to 18.36 yuan, after the country's biggest insurer said its net profit in 2012 may drop 40 percent. Ping An Insurance Co, China's second-largest insurer, lost 2.4 percent to 45.95 yuan. China Pacific Insurance Co decreased 2.6 percent to 19.69 yuan.

Data from the China Index Academy showed the average price of new homes across the country's 100 cities rose 0.83 percent from a month earlier to 9,893 yuan per square meter in February, the ninth straight month of increase.

Property developers were mixed. Poly Real Estate, China's second-largest developer, shed 1.5 percent to 12.63 yuan. Gemdale Corporation lost 1.7 percent to 7.13 yuan. Shanghai Xinmei Real Estate Co rose 3.1 percent to 12.37 yuan.